Little Angels
by GCatsPjs
Summary: MerDer AU! Marriage and relationship of Meredith, Derek their children and grandchildren! Of course Anyone who has already read the 'future' of this fic... please be respectful THANKS! NEW UP TO CHAPTER 59! WARNING! MAY CONTAIN SOME FOUL LANGUAGE!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1-

Katherine Elisabeth was born in January of 2007. She was born to a mother who loved her with all of her heart and a father that didn't even know that she existed. She was always small for her age, petite and quiet.

She has her father's piercing blue eyes and half grin and her hair is a dark brown with a touch of blond highlights hanging down in loose ringlets with the scent of shampoo that made people want to just snuggle up with her and press their face to her to give her a short peck and take in the sweet smell that made them want to be a child again.

Katherine or 'Katie-bug' as she was affectionately called by her large "extended" family was spoiled by anyone who held her. Her family consisted of her mother's co-workers and friends who watched Katie grow from her first yawn, to her first tooth, her first word and first step.

Everyone who knows her, holds her close to their heart, for they know that she is a very special part of their lives.

With each passing day, Katherine looks more and more like her father. A reminder to her mother of the man she once loved, and still held a place for in her heart.

Katie's father left two weeks before Meredith knew that she was pregnant. He left everything he had known and loved. He leased out his land to be cared for by a family that was in need of a place to stay, divorced his wife of 11 years and set himself on his way to find himself. He wasn't sure exactly where he was going or what he needed, but he felt that he needed to be selfless and giving in order to find out what it is he needs in his life. He was tired of hurting people and being hurt, so he said goodbye to his friends and family in search of his soul.

He still practiced medicine, traveling from country to country performing surgeries and other medical tasks for people who would otherwise not be able to afford a trip to a larger hospital for treatment. He never forgot his friends. He would occasionally drop a postcard or letter in the mail to inform everyone of how he was doing.

Meredith always told Katie the truth about her father, feeling that honesty, above all else is the most important part of the relationship between her and her daughter.

Every time a postcard would come in the mail, she would place it in a special scrapbook after reading it aloud to Katie, letting her know how important her daddy was to people all over the world. She would always end the reading by saying "Love always, daddy" instead of the actual writing "Love always, Derek". Making these moments ever more special for her daughter.

It had been a little over five years since Katherine's father left so suddenly, however she was always surrounded by both male and female figures to help her grow to be smart and caring to others.

She was constantly influenced by her mother's friends. Doctor Burke and Cristina, known affectionately by Katie as Uncle Doc, and Aunt Crissy always saved time on their time off to visit their "Katie bug" and bring her gifts and hugs.

Uncle Georgie and Aunt Izzie stayed with Meredith in her mother's house and would help Katie get ready for her days at daycare or hold her when she was sad or scared and everyone knew that even from as early as they can remember, the most calming activity for Katie was to carefully flip through the scrapbook of bright postcards from her daddy.

Meredith always made sure that Katie had her mother's attention as often as possible. She took short surgeries and arranged her schedule so that she could be at home during Katie's "awake hours" on some days of the week.

Two weeks before Christmas, Meredith received a postcard from Derek. The postcard surprised her because she had just gotten one two days before. The first thing she noticed, was that the card did not have a stamp on it. , not immediately looking at the note on the card, she flipped it over. When she looked at the picture on the postcard, she just looked at it in astonishment.

It was not a picture of some far away place, it wasn't a pyramid from Egypt or a picture of the Taj Mahal in India. It was a picture of the space needle at night, with the lights of Seattle sparkling in the background. Meredith could feel her heart quicken as she turned the card over. "Please, meet me at Joes tonight at 10, I will be waiting for you. Love always, Derek".

"Hey Mer," Meredith was suddenly startled out of her reverie by the sound of George's voice. She turns her head and he is standing there in his scrub pants and a grey t-shirt holding Katie while she playfully puts her hands on his cheeks and smacks his cheeks with her lips over and over. "Have you seen Katie-bug's other boot? Every time I ask her where it is, she says 'its hiding'".

"Ah, its hiding, where can it be?" she says as she scoops up her daughter and tickles her side. "Could it be…. HERE?" she says, pulling her daughter's shirt and giving her a raspberry on the tummy. Katie squeals in delight and while still laughing says "No, silly mama, its not hiding in my tummy", as they continued their search for the missing boot.

"Mer, are you alright, you looked a little pale there, when you were getting the mail." George said, walking up to her.

"Yeah, I'm fine" she said, brushing off the feeling of nervous excitement that she had after reading the postcard. "I'll tell you about it in a little while" she said, indicating Katie in her arms. "Ok, bugs, where's that boot?"

"I'll give you a hint mama. Its not in my toybox!" She said, giggling.

"Aha!" Merideth said as she swooped her daughter under one arm and opened the toybox to reveal, not only her missing boot, but her mother's running shoes and George's slippers.

"So that's where my slippers were!" George exclaimed, snatching Katie from her mother as she erupted into gales of laughter. "Now lets get you ready to go to daycare, mommy and Uncle Georgie have to go to work today. Aunt Izzy is going to pick you up not soon after, and you're going to go get mommy her Christmas present, what do you think about that?"

"fun fun FUN!" Katie exclaimed as George carried her into the kitchen to get her boot on and to find her jacket.

As soon as George and Katie left the room, Meredith sighed in resignation as thoughts of her invitation plagued her mind. "What am I going to do?" she sighed to herself.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2-

Meredith and George dropped Katie off at the daycare in the hospital and head towards the locker room, Meredith in a sort of daze and George quietly wondering what she was thinking about. They entered the bustling locker room where Izzie was already getting ready to go on rounds, sitting on the bench filing her nails while waiting for George and Meredith to get in to tell them about the emergencies that came in that morning. They walk into the locker room and say hi to Izzie and rifle through their lockers to find their scrub tops. Cristina walks in a couple seconds behind them.

"Hey, what's going on with you guys?" Izzie says curiously from her spot on the bench.

"Mer has something that's bothering her, but she wouldn't tell me. Maybe you guys can squeeze it out of her" George says, facing his locker and pulling his scrub shirt over his head.

"I was just waiting until we dropped the bug off at daycare, I needed to talk to all of you." Meredith says wearily.

"Oh! Adult material, this should be good, did you get some last night?" Cristina asks as she turns from her locker and sits on the bench next to Izzie.

"Yeah Cris, I got some. In between putting Katie to bed and falling into bed exhausted, I invited some hot guy in and had wild passionate sex. No, unfortunately, its more like 'complicated' stuff." "Derek's back"

At first, everyone was silent, and after about ten seconds of shocked looks, everyone started talking at the same time, each trying to talk louder than the next, crowding around Meredith. "You're kidding!" "Are you going to tell him?" "When did you find out?" "Did you see him?" "What about Katie? Are you going to tell him?"

"wait wait WAIT" Meredith raised her voice. Everyone looked at her with an expectant glance, waiting for her to explain more than just that Derek was back.

"Well, this morning I got a postcard from him, no postage, just a postcard of Seattle, and a note asking me to meet him at Joe's tonight. I don't know what to say, what to tell him. He didn't leave on bad terms, I just don't want to scare him away, or feel that he has any obligation." Meredith explains.

"He's going to want an explanation, Mer. He's going to want to know how this much time has passed and he never found out that he has a daughter." Cris says dryly.

"My first concern is to find out exactly why he's in town, I think I'll worry about 'Operation: Baby Bombshell', after that." Meredith says as she starts towards the door. "But for now, let's just worry about work". "Iz, what time are you picking up Kate from daycare? I get out at 8, which would leave me enough time to stop home, get changed and head out to Joes to meet up with Derek at 10."

"I get out around noon, I was going to pick up Katie bug on my way out and we were going to do some Christmas shopping. I can keep an eye on her while you go out tonight, its not a problem at all."

"Great" sighs Meredith as they all exit the locker room to start their rounds.

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At about quarter past noon, Izzie made her way to the hospital daycare. She peeked through one of the viewing windows and watched as Katie and another little girl colored pictures on construction paper. They looked so happy sitting there with their crayons, giggling with one another.

Izzie slipped into the daycare, saying hello to the caretaker and sat down on the little plastic chair next to Katie. Katie looked up at Izzie and gave her one of her 'world famous' smiles as her Uncle Doc would call them. "Hi Aunt Izzie. I colored a picture for you."

"Oh yeah? Tell me about your picture" Izzie said, dropping a kiss onto her head.

"Well, this is mama and daddy!" she says, pointing at a blue and brown squiggle that may or may not have had arms or legs. This didn't surprise Izzie, every now and then, Katie would ask questions about her daddy like what color his hair was, or does he like the color blue like she does, she may not have met her daddy in person, but she had a connection of sorts, she knew that he was out there and she was so eager to hear and learn more about him. "This is the sunshine" she says, pointing to a yellow circle in the top corner. "And this is me and Santa" she says pointing a red and brown scribble in another corner. "This is for you to put in your room Aunt Izzie, with the other pictures!" she exclaimed excitedly, handing her artwork over to Izzie.

"That's great Katie! It will go fantastic with all of your other pictures. Lets get ready to go shopping for that special Christmas present for your mommy, and if you're really good, maybe we'll get to see Santa!" Katie excitedly said goodbye to her friend and rushed to the doorway to get ready to go. Izzie got up and bundled Katie up for their shopping adventure.

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Meredith walks to the cafeteria after an intense triple bypass surgery with Burke, she looks around and sees George, Cristina and Burke getting their lunch. She brings her bag lunch and magazine over to the table and sits down.

"Great job, Dr. Grey" Burke says patting Meredith on the back as he walks up behind her and sets his tray on the table.

"Thanks, Dr. Burke, It certainly wasn't one of the easiest bypasses that I've participated in." Meredith says with a sigh and goes back to her sandwich and magazine. Everyone sits around the table and starts to eat their lunch quietly, while trying not to let on that they're watching Meredith.

"What guys? What do you want to know?" Meredith says, not looking up from the magazine she's flipping through.

"We just want to know what you're planning on telling him. What if he's staying in the area? What if he gets angry at you for keeping her a secret for so long? George interrogated her.

"Well, for one, he wrote, but he wasn't reachable. What was I going to do? Send him a smoke signal? He never had a return address, he was in and out of so many places." "And two, if he's going to be in the area, then he has every right to see his daughter and interact with her. She has been waiting for so long to know who her daddy is, I would definitely welcome him back into my life, into hers."

"Seriously?" Cristina says, "he left, just up and left you with a child to raise virtually on your own."

"Yeah Cristina, and I would have every right to be angry at him, if he actually KNEW that she existed. I just hope that he doesn't flip out and just leave, I hope he wants to more than just see her. I'd hate to break her heart."

"Well," Burke interjects "you can never go wrong with the truth, just kind of tell him slowly, don't shock him. If you're not ready to tell him, then don't tell him right away. Good luck. Well, I should be going, I have another surgery in an hour, I'll talk to you guys later." Burke says as he stands up. "Tell Katie-bug that Uncle Doc has a tickle attack waiting for her the next time he sees her." Burke smiles and walks towards his office.

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Izzie and Katie arrived at the mall and began their search for the best mommy present. Placing Kate in her stroller, they were off to the shops, looking for that special gift that would catch Katie-bug's eye. They went from store to store, looking for something that Meredith would like. Each time Izzie would point out a stuffed animal, or a little statue or something, Katie would say "No Aunt Izzie, that's not it."

"Well, my little Katie-bug, Aunt Izzie is getting pretty tired, and its almost dinner time! Let's go see Santa and then we'll see if we can come up with any ideas for mommy's present", seeing Katie's eager nod, they headed over to the center court where Santa's workshop display was set up. After a short wait, Izzie walked up with Katie and carefully placed Katie on Santa's lap. She flashed a toothy grin at the camera for her picture and turned her attention to Santa.

"Hi Santa" she says shyly. "Thank you for letting me get my picture taken with you. I have been waiting all day" she says quietly. " I can think of one thing that I want for Christmas." "I want to meet my daddy." Santa smiles and looks over at Izzie, who seems a little surprised about the request. "Is there anything else that Santa can get you?" "No thank you. That's all." "Ok, little girl, we'll see what Santa can do about that!" He hands her a candy cane and she leaps from Santa's lap and grabs hold of Izzie's hand, smiling from ear to ear. "I know what I want to get mommy! She says looking up at Izzie, her blue eyes full of mischief and happiness as she pulls Izzie along with her.

Katie runs off ahead, with Izzie on her heels. She runs into a store that is filled with crystal trinkets and jewelry and runs head on into the leg of a man who is looking in the jeweler's case.

"OW!" Katie exclaims as she jumps back, her eyes filling with tears at the embarrassment of running into the stranger. The man was very tall with thick dark hair and a full beard and mustache, he looked down and sees the little girl and bends down on one knee.

"Hey there, I'm sorry about that, are you alright. Are you lost?" he says in a soft voice.

Katherine looks up at the stranger, and her blue eyes met his blue eyes, they stood there in a moment, just staring. He had to shake off the strange feeling that he had seen her somewhere before, but before he could say anything, a woman came out of nowhere and snatched up the little girl, barely giving the man a second look. She hurriedly apologized and scooped her up and retreated out of the store. The man just stood there in confusion and convinced himself that the holiday crowds were finally getting to him. He stood up and continued browsing through the jewelry.

When Izzie got out of the store, she sat Katie on a bench. "Katherine Elisabeth! Don't ever scare me like that! I could have lost you! Are you alright, why are you crying sweetie?"

"I dunno" she says, obviously preoccupied by her thoughts and wiping the tears from her eyes. "We have to go find a present for mommy."

"You got it sweetie!" and she put Katie in her stroller and they were off again on their hunt for the best mommy present ever.


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3-

Izzie and Katie find the perfect present for Meredith and pick out a couple gifts for George, Cristina and Burke while they are out. They arrive home at about 5, giving Izzie enough time to make a quick a bowl of mac and cheese for Katie and start preparing dinner for George and Meredith.

After dinner, Izzie and Katie decided to play dress up, they took out the trunk of "princess" clothes out and Katie put on a princess dress and pranced about the room, with her favorite stuffed dog, Petie. She gave Izzie a tiara to wear and they put a cd in the cd player and danced around the room.

George and Meredith came through the door at about 8:30 but not before watching the little show that was going on in the living room and laughing, they looked ragged and hungry from their busy day at work. "MAMA! UNCLE GEORGIE!" Katie squealed when she noticed them coming into the living room from the hall. She ran into her mother's arms and told her everything about her day, except of course what she bought her mother for Christmas. She and Izzie had made a special promise to not tell anyone about mommy's present.

"Hey guys" Izzie says "Dinner is ready in the kitchen, if you're hungry"

"If? I'm SO hungry I could eat a….."

"Horse?" Katie inquired.

"no….. a" George countered

"Monkey?" Katie giggled.

"no… I'm so hungry I could eat a…. KATIE BUG!" he says and he throws his coat on the couch and grabs Katie from Meredith's arms and gives her raspberries all the way into the kitchen.

Halfway through dinner, the doorbell rang. "Hey, I'll go get it" George says as he gets up. He walks out of the room toward the front door. He doesn't recognize the figure standing on the other side of the window until he opens the door. "Hello?" he says right before he realizes who is standing in front of him.

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They just stand there and stare at each other for what is only a few seconds, but feels like much longer. Just as George is about to say something, they are interrupted by the squealing of Katherine careening into the room. "UNCLE GEORGIE, WHO IS AT THE……."

She stops dead in her tracks, staring at the stranger that she had seen at the jewelry store, only this time he looks a little different. He's clean shaven, and doesn't look as tired as he had earlier. She just stands there and the three of them stare at each other.

George snaps out of his reverie "Hey, uh... what are you doing here? I thought you were meeting her at Joes"

"Oh, yeah. Um." Derek stutters not taking his eyes off of Katherine "I just couldn't wait." He says, furrowing his brow. George steps back, and Derek walks into the hallway, still not taking his eyes off the little girl in the princess dress that stands before him, with the start of tears in her piercing blue eyes. He kneels on one knee and says very softly "Well hey, you look awfully familiar." George's brow furrows in confusion. Katie was usually very wary of strangers, he couldn't understand why she was just standing there staring at Derek.

Katie very softly walks up to Derek and reaches her hand out to his face. She takes her small hand and very lightly touches his cheek. "Where is all your hair?" she asks curiously, tilting her head, her little curls bobbing.

Derek doesn't respond, he doesn't know what to say. His eyes start to fill with tears. "Sir, please don't cry, do you have an 'owwie'?" Katie says in a very small voice.

"Yeah…" he says very lightly as he stands up, "yeah, I think I do" he says as he stands up and wipes the tears from his eyes.

"George, who's at the…" Meredith stops on her heels as she enters the hall and sees George, Derek and Katie together in the hallway.

"Derek!" Meredith exclaims. "I thought you were meeting me at Joe's" I'm not ready to go just yet. George, can you take Katie into the kitchen with Izzie, we'll be in there in a minute."

"uh, yeah" George mutters as he picks Katie up and quietly heads into the kitchen. Katie goes willingly, but throws a longing glance over her shoulder at Derek, not fully understanding the gravity of the situation, but knowing that her mama was talking in that stern tone that she uses when she's at work.

"Uh, um… hi?" Derek says clumsily. "As I told George, I was so excited to be back in town, I just couldn't wait to see you." "um, did you get my postcards?"

"yeah" Meredith laughed nervously, "every single one! I wish I could have talked back to you, there has been so much happening since you left, I was very excited when I heard you were going to be back in town"

"Would you mind if we go sit on the couch? I uh… had a long day today and I'm kind of tired." Derek asked

"Sure, I had a long day too, two bypasses, and about three head traumas." They head to the couch and sit next to one another.

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Izzie is in the kitchen with her ear pressed against the door, trying in vain to hear what is going on in the living room.

George set Katie on the counter while he stands next to her, she sits there quietly, watching Izzie with a look of confusion and sleepiness in her eyes, her head leaning on George for support, her blue eyes glassing over with sleepyness, her long eyelashes weighing heavily on her eyelids as she struggles to stay awake.

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"What brought you back into town?" Meredith asked curiously, trying to remain tactful in avoiding the question that she was just waiting to be asked.

"A few things. I haven't seen my family or friends in quite a while. The last job that I took lasted until the end of November, and I have been in and out of cities since then. The family that has been leasing my land built a house closer to the city, so I also worked my way back to get that all settled and taken care of. I haven't decided whether or not I am staying, I am always keeping my options open though."

"Oh" Meredith says blankly, waiting for more of what he's up to.

"How about with you? Is there anything going on with you that you want to talk about?" he says with a slight glimmer of that McDreamy smile that she has been waiting to see. Pressing her for answers to questions that he was pretty sure he already knew the answer to.

"Actually, there is." She says, standing up. "Stay right there, I'll be right back."

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Meredith walked towards the kitchen, swinging the door open right into Izzie's head. :BANG: "ow!" Izzie exclaims.

"That'll teach you to eavesdrop" Meredith laughs nervously as she checks to make sure Izzie is alright despite her giggles. "Well, this is an interesting situation isn't it?" she says to no one in particular. She looks over at George who is holding a very sleepy Katie.

"Now what do I do?" she asks. "I think he already knows, I guess here goes nothing" she says as she walks to George.

"Good luck, Mer" he says, giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Thanks George" Meredith very gently plucks her sleepy child from the counter and says "Well, here goes nothing!"

As she leaves the room, George gets up from his spot near the counter and puts his ear in his eavesdropping spot alongside Izzie.

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Meredith walks through the kitchen door, knowing full well that the two in the kitchen will be listening to everything that happens between her and Derek.

"Derek" she whispers. "Come upstairs with me, there is something that I want to show you." She says as she walks through the living room, picking up Katie's stuffed dog off the end of the couch.

Derek's eyes soften as he sees the woman he loves entering the room cradling the sweet little angel in the princess dress. The little girl whose eyes matched his own and had such a sweet, gentle way about her. He follows Meredith up the stairs and they enter a little room at the end of the hall . The room is painted pink with indigo flowers along the wall, a Barbie dream house in one corner and a little bed with pink and blue covers. It was very obvious that a little girl lived in this room, was growing up in this room, was very loved in this room.

Meredith carefully settles Katie in her bed, carefully removing the princess dress that she is wearing, to reveal the pajamas that Izzie had put on her before their game of dress up. She carefully moved the hair from Katie's eyes and gave her a small kiss on her forehead. "Derek, come here" she says to the quiet figure hovering in the doorway as she sits on the edge of the bed.

Suddenly, Katie began to stir, and Derek took a step toward the small figure on the bed. "mommy, please read my daddy book to me." She said in a quiet, sleepy voice. "mommy, who's that?" she said quietly, sitting up in her bed, looking at Derek with a sweet smile.

Meredith looked over at Derek and motioned for him to come closer. Derek moved closer to the bed and sat on the edge next to Meredith, in the spot that she had indicated for him. "Angel, this is Derek. He is a friend of mommy's from a very long time ago."

"Oh, hi Derek" she responded with a shy little smile. "Mommy, may I please ask Derek if he would read me my daddy book?"

"Sure sweetheart, I'll get it for you." Meredith responded as she reached behind her, she pulled out a scrapbook, with a dark blue felt cover. And handed it to Derek.

Derek looked at Meredith with a questioning look. "Derek, just open up the book, Katie knows what to do."

"Start with Egypt, Derek, please" she said sleepily, pointing to the book and snuggling down into her blankets.

Derek opened the book carefully, to the first page, he looked down to see the first postcard that he had sent on his soul searching trip. A picture of the Great Pyramid in Egypt. Next to the postcard, was a handwritten paper fastened into the scrapbook with the message from the postcard carefully written on it.

"Um, Dear Meredith," He starts awkwardly

"That's mommy" Katie said sleepily from her spot under the covers.

"Dear Meredith, I miss you all very much. I hope that everything is going well back in Seattle and that its not raining too much. The sights out here are amazing and I am learning a lot about performing surgery in these less than ideal conditions. I hope that you all are doing well. Please don't miss me too much."

He read slowly and deliberately, his voice getting quieter with each word. When he gets to the end of the paper, he looks over at Katie, who is sleeping like a little angel. He reads the last three words on the paper to himself and he looks up to Meredith. She has tears in her eyes, and tears start to well up in Derek's eyes. He struggles to get the last three words out. With his voice cracking, he looks right into Meredith's eyes, takes her face in his hands and his voice cracks as he says.

"Love always, Daddy."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4-

Downstairs in the kitchen, Izzie and George listen intently at the door for any sounds from the living room. "I don't think I hear anything, do you think its safe?" Izzie inquired.

"Well, I'm exhausted, and I have to get up in a few hours to go back, I think I'm going to venture out there and go to bed." George says.

"I know that Mer has tomorrow off, and I still don't know if they are going out tonight, my guess would be that they're not, but I'll stay up for a little while to see if they're going out." Izzie says as they open the door quietly and peek into the living room. They quietly climb the stairs together, and go towards their respective rooms. They see the soft glow of Katie's bedroom light and still no sound coming from within.

"Well, goodnight Izzie." George whispers as he opens the door to his room.

"Goodnight George." Izzie says quietly, taking a moment to again look down the hallway towards the bedroom of her sweet Katie.

"Katie-bug" she says to herself. "I sure hope that Santa can make your Christmas wish come true." She walks into her bedroom and closes the door behind her.

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The sound of Izzie's door closing jolts Meredith and Derek from their daydream.

"Meredith." Derek whispers. "I don't know what to say." He pauses, with a undistinguishable look on his face. "Can we go downstairs to talk? I don't want to wake her." He says softly, indicating the little girl snuggling into her blankets clutching her fuzzy brown dog with the hint of a smile on her peaceful face.

"um, ok." Meredith whispers with a concerned look. She stands up and walks toward the door.

Before she reaches the doorway, Derek reaches out and grasps hold of her arm and pulls her to him. Pressing her body against his. He takes her face in his hands and bends down giving her a deep, passionate kiss.

Just as she is about to deepen the kiss, he suddenly pulls away and looks her in the eyes, his eyes turning a darker more intense blue. He then pulls away and walks out the door and down the stairs, leaving Meredith standing there, stunned for several moments before she slowly turns and follows him downstairs.

When Meredith reaches the bottom of the stairs, she looks around the corner and sees Derek sitting on the couch with his head in his hands, looking down at the floor. She pauses for a moment at the bottom of the stairs, just watching him and cautiously approaches him. Not having any idea what is going through his mind, she walks up in front of him, he just continues to sit there, staring at the ground, not saying a word.

He slowly lifts his head to show her his face. His cheeks are stained with tears and his eyes have turned to a soft blue color. He has a look that is a mix of sadness, disappointment and something else that Meredith can't quite read.

She sits beside him on the couch and she reaches for his shoulder. She lightly pulls on his arm and his head moves slowly into her lap. Before long, he is sobbing, letting all the emotions that he is holding inside out into the open.

Meredith just lets him cry, lightly running her fingers through his hair in a soothing motion, trying to calm him down so that she can figure out what is going through his mind.

After several minutes of crying, his sobs begin to slow to short gasps for air, and he quieted down and just lay there in silence for a while. Meredith continued to caress his face and hair, wiping the tears from his cheeks.

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After about a half hour of silence, Derek sits up and scoots over on the couch a little, so that he can see Meredith's face.

"I'm sorry." He says simply, giving her a sad puppy face. "I'm sorry for so many things, I don't even know where to start." He says, on the verge of crying again.

"You don't have anything to be sorry for, Derek" "You did something that you needed to do for yourself, you went to so many places and saved so many lives that would not have made it if it hadn't been for you." Meredith said, struggling not to cry.

"I left because I needed to find myself, Mer. I needed to find out who Derek Shepherd is, I needed to be selfless for a change and give my whole self. And what did I sacrifice? I sacrificed being with you. I sacrificed the birth of our daughter. I sacrificed so much, and you have gone through so much." "I left because I needed to find myself, and the only thing that I learned… was that I was right here the whole time." "I was right here." he says, indicating Meredith's heart. "She doesn't even know who I am." He said sadly.

"Derek, you are and always have been in my heart. Not one second goes by that I don't think of you. What you're doing, what you're thinking. Every day, I see Katherine's face and I am reminded of how deeply you have touched my life. That is why I made you such an important part of hers."

"Derek. That book that you read from, that book of postcards… It is her most precious possession. THAT is you to her right now. She doesn't think that you're a superhero, she doesn't think that you're an adventurer in the Amazon. No…. She has us read those postcards to her because she wants to know who you are, she knows that you love her, that you think of her through me, she just wants to know the truth." He looks at her intently as she describes their daughter.

"Do you have any idea how many times I have had to tell her what your favorite color is?" Meredith said with a smile.

Derek smiled slightly. "Really?"

"Seriously." Meredith says.

Derek stands suddenly and looks down at Meredith on the couch. "Mer. There are a few things that I have to do. I have to leave tomorrow afternoon for a few days and take care of a couple of things, but before I go, I want you to understand something... I'm not angry at you for not knowing. I love you." He says to her, kneeling down in front of her. He sees the tears starting to well up in her eyes.

"I will be coming back. Don't worry, it will only be a couple of days. It is just some loose ends that I have to take care of."

"What? Do you have another wife?" she asks, only half kidding.

He lets out an uncomfortable laugh. "Oh, no, nothing like that! Just some things with the trailer, and my jobs. But don't worry, I'll be back soon." He says with a smile. "Do you mind if I'm a bit forward with you right now?"

"What do you mean?" She asked, tilting her head questioningly, much in the same way Katherine did when she saw Derek come into her living room.

"Can I sleep next to you? Will you hold me tonight? I have been alone for such a long time and all I want is to be held by the woman that I love." He says sounding very small and vulnerable.

He sits down next to her. "I promise you, my intentions are honorable to the highest degree."

Meredith gave him a sweet smile and stood up, walking towards the stairs, she turned back to him and held out her hand for him to follow. He stood up and took her hand as she led him to her bedroom, where she quickly threw on her night shirt and snuggled into bed with an already half sleeping Derek. She held him close, taking in his scent and remembering all of the happy moments that they have had and thinking of how much she missed him. He gives her a squeeze, and as they drift off into sweet dreams, Meredith whispers.

"I love you too."


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5-

It was 5am and Izzie lay in her bed feigning sleep. It wasn't that she didn't want to get up, it was that she was pretty sure that she wasn't alone in her room. She had an intense feeling that she was being watched. She lay there very still on her side, trying to keep a straight face as to not let the person in her room know that she knew. She opened one eye just a little and she could make out a mop of messy brown hair, and before she could open the other eye, she was found out!

"Aunt Izzie!" She said urgently. "Aunt Izzie…Derek sleeped over! He's in mamas bed!"

Izzie shot up in bed. "Derek sleeped…. I mean slept over?"

"Yes!" Katherine said, concerned "And he's in my morning spot!"

"ohh! I see, you're not upset because he's here, you're just upset because he's sleeping where you like to crawl into on mommy's bed." She said, picking up the little girl onto her bed, while Katherine wiped the sleep from her eyes.

"yes." She said with a sideways grin.

"Well, you know how you get it back?" this piqued Katie's interest. "Well, you…" and she whispered in Katie bug's ear.

The little girl listened to Izzie and leapt from the bed, running at full speed into the bedroom, she jumped onto her mother's bed and started to jump up and down in the middle.

"TWINKLE… TWINKLE… LITTLE… STAR…. HOW …. I …. WONDER…. WHAT… YOU…. ARE….." she sang at the top of her lungs as she bounced higher and higher.

Derek reached out and gently grabbed her foot and tugged, and Katie bug fell onto her butt between he and meredith, bouncing a little with her weight. Derek, pulled her little body closer to him and started to tickle her.

"DADDY! STOP TEEKLING MEEEE! She squealed. Derek immediately stopped, and Meredith rolled over, giving Derek a surprised smile. "What are you two doing?" Meredith asked, pretending that she was upset for being disturbed.

"Derek was tickling me! He made me fall on my bottom!" she giggled as she crawled up between Derek and Meredith and lay her head on their pillow. "He is so silly!"

"Well, you two, mommy doesn't have to go into work today, so let's settle down and sleep a little more before we have to get up." Meredith said as she cuddled down into her comforter.

"ok, mommy, you sleep." as she lightly ran her fingers through Meredith's hair, just as Meredith had done to Derek the night before. She turns to Derek and puts her finger to her lips "Shh, mama is sleeping" and with that, she cuddles her head against Derek's chest and soon her breathing slows and she falls into a happy slumber. Derek just lay there awake taking in the sweet scent of his daughter's hair and soon he was sleeping too.

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At 6:30 and after several "sleep kicks" from Katherine, Derek slipped out of bed, put his shirt on and decided to get himself something for breakfast. He gave Meredith a quick kiss on the forehead, which made her shift around, but she remained sleeping. He looked down at his little princess, sleeping with her feet on the pillow and her thumb in her mouth, smiling about whatever sweet dream she was having. He sighed with a smile and quietly slipped into the hallway.

He came downstairs, and hearing noises in the kitchen, he took a deep breath and walked through the door as if he had been doing it every day. "Hey guys, good morning!" He smiled.

"Hey Derek, I heard that you "sleeped" over last night…" Izzie said with a grin.

"Ahh, so you're the one that sent the twinkle monster in!" He said with a laugh.

"Yeah, I'm usually the one that gets the 'twinkle torture', Oh, by the way… love the new hairstyle" George said grinning

Derek ran his hand through his hair and realized that it was sticking straight up. He tousles it around so it is in a more presentable style. "Your hair would look like that too if it was being styled by a toddlers feet while you were sleeping."

They all laughed. "So, what's for breakfast?" Derek asked.

"Well, after Mer told us that you'd be visiting, we got you a box of your favorite cereal."

"Muesli?"

"You got it!" She says, handing him a bowl a spoon and his box of cereal. He pours himself a bowl and puts some milk in.

Just then, the kitchen door opens slowly and little Katie drags in, her hair in unruly curls and she is still rubbing the sleep out of her eyes. She doesn't say anything, she just climbs into the chair next to Derek, reaches over and slides his bowl over to her. Takes a spoon on the table and puts a big mouthful in her mouth.

She then promptly opens her mouth and sticks her tongue out with a very disgusted look. The cereal falls to the table as Izzie stands with a disapproving look on her face. "yuck yuck yuck!" she says looking up at Derek, who is very amused.

George laughs "well, it looks like that little phase is over, she has been doing that to me for a week."

Derek looks over at Katie-bug and slides his bowl over to himself. "Hey, there's nothing wrong with a little fiber!" Katie just looks up at Izzie and squeals "LUCKY CHARMS!" and Izzie laughs as she pours Katherine her favorite cereal.

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Meredith rolled over in her empty bed and looked around for signs of anyone. She smiled at the thought of Derek being downstairs in the kitchen, waiting for her. She stayed in her bed awake for a little while and she heard Izzie and George leave for work. She was so happy to know that she had the day off. They were so few and far between, but she was always relieved when she would get one. She rolled out of bed and slipped on a pair of pants and quietly walked to the top of the stairs. She figured that they had just let Derek keep an eye on Katie when they left. She listened downstairs and didn't hear anything, so she quietly slipped down the steps.

The kitchen door was slightly open, just enough so that she could see two very messy heads of hair sitting next to each other at the counter. She was shocked at how similar they looked, sitting their together talking, Katie-bug's smile lighting up the room as she giggles at something Derek said. "She's so happy." Meredith thought. She walked closer to the door to listen.

"and, um, this is a pink heart!" Katie explains as she puts her fingers into her bowl and pulls out a marshmallow. She sets it on the counter while Derek gives her an impressed look. "And this one here, " she says holding up another marshmallow. "Is my favorite! It's the blue moon, I save those for last!"

"oh yeah? Why is that?" Derek asked, genuinely, expecting her to give the usual response of it being her favorite color.

"Well, when me and mama take the ferry boat at night, we watch the moon and she tells me stories about my daddy and how they used to watch the ferry boats at night." She says very seriously.

"you like boats?" Derek asked with a little tear coming to his eye.

"Oh yes!" she said excitedly, not catching the look of longing in Derek's face "Uncle Doc has a sailboat and I put on my life vest and mama and me and Uncle Doc and Aunt Crissy go on it and go sailing!"

"Uncle Doc, huh? He says questioningly as he laughs.

Meredith walks into the room, "You'd know him better as 'Dr. Burke'" She smiles as she comes into the room." "And you little girl," she says as she picks the marshmallows up from the counter "you know better than to put your food on the counter." She plants a kiss on Katie-bug's head and moves over and gives a kiss on Derek's head.

Derek laughs "Hey, we were having a conversation here, that was our exhibit!"

"Well, they don't belong on the counter" she said with a smile, in her mommy voice as she moves over to the sink.

"oh yeah?" he says as he runs over to Meredith and grabs her from behind, picks her up and sets her butt down on the counter near the sink and tickles her. She erupts into laughter and Katie sits at her chair laughing at her mommy acting so silly with Derek. With Meredith up on the counter, he looks up to her and they place the tops of their heads together, each with a huge grin on their face.

"Do you really have to leave again?" Meredith asked, suddenly replacing her grin with a sad puppy dog look.

Derek's eyes avoided her gaze for a moment. "Yeah, there are just a couple of things that I have to wrap up. I leave this afternoon." "I promise I'll come back…… do you trust me?"

"Yes." She said in a small voice, tears building up in her eyes. She wraps her arms around his neck and hugs him tightly against her. Katherine watches this and climbs down from her perch on the chair and wraps her arms around Derek's legs. He turns his head to see her look up at him with her big blue eyes, she just stares up at him for a moment, the blond highlights in her hair glistening from the sunlight coming through the window. She gives him one of her 'world famous' grins. "I love you, Derek!" she says, as she lays her head on his leg and squeezes.

He turns his head back into his hug with Meredith, takes in the scent of her. "I love you too, Katie."

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The day decided to turn out nicely, the sun was shining brightly and it was unseasonably warm for December, so Derek and Meredith decided to take Katherine for a walk in the park and catch up on a few things before Derek had to leave.

They strolled down the pathway towards the playground with Katie-bug in the middle holding tight to Meredith and Derek's hands, every once in a while picking her feet up and erupting in gales of laughter as they pulled up on her arms and swing her a little. They don't say much on the walk, they just smile and giggle along with Katie, every once in a while they throw a loving glance at one another as they near the playground. Derek and Meredith sit on a bench nearby as Katherine runs across the path to the playground.  
"So, you haven't talked much about work since I have been here, why don't you fill me on what everyone has been up to." Derek said, flashing his McDreamy smile as he listened intently, every once in a while looking over to Katie as she called them to look at her doing various things on the playground.

"Well" she said, leaning in to give him a kiss. "I didn't want to bother you with work details, my time with you is precious" she laughed. "But, as far as how everyone is doing, here is the run down. Let me see… Burke and Cristina are now engaged, they're getting married next year, if they can both get the same day off for a change." She smiled.

"Um, the chief is still the chief, he had a heart scare a year and half ago, so his wife put him on what she calls 'light-duty'. Burke is his backup and they rotate on and off as chief."

"Bailey, well, Bailey is still her old self. She has been a little softer since Katherine was born, but don't tell her I said that." They both laugh.

"Addison was offered a position in New York that she just couldn't resist. She left about three years ago for that. We haven't heard much of anything about how she's doing. Alex is still around, though he works in plastics now, so we don't see much of him anymore. Now and then he'll visit us for lunch or go out, but he has really mellowed out since he got engaged, finally found to woman to tame him…" she laughs.

"Izzie and George are the same, as you have seen, though Izzie has an on again, off again relationship with a guy down in billing. He's nice, but you can still see that she and George still have that connection, they're usually around each other all the time, so I'm not sure if there's something going on there. They have been great with Katherine, she's their little 'Katie-bug'. I really couldn't have survived if it hadn't been for them. Katie thinks the world of them." She waves at Katie as she goes down the slide, gabbing with a little girl who is at the bottom.

She sees that she finally got her mother's attention and rushes over quickly. "Mama! Can Derek push me on the swings?" She asks as she grabs Derek's hand and starts to pull him off the bench. He smiles and bends over to Meredith giving her a kiss on the cheek. "Well, Duty calls" he says standing up smiling as he is 'pulled' along to the swings. Meredith sits on the bench and watches them interact. She smiles brightly and after a second, her brow furrows as she remembers that Derek isn't going to be there tonight to snuggle up to.

"I trust him" she says to herself in a half convincing way. "Why shouldn't I trust him?"

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It is 4:00pm and Derek is preparing to leave. He is saying goodbye to Meredith and Katie in the living room before heading to the airport.

"So where exactly are you going?" Meredith asks innocently as she helps him get his coat on.

"Um, I have a couple of places to go, I have a meeting with someone in a couple of days and I have to take care of the trailer details with the people who were leasing the land. Nothing too bad, nothing that I really need to get into, trust me. I will try to call if I can, I don't have a cellular phone so I'll try to call if I get the chance. Don't worry, I'll come back." He said with a smile.

"Ok, well, I'll miss you." Meredith said reaching up for a kiss. "We'll miss you." She said smiling.

With that, Derek turned his attention to Katie. He crouched down to her level and held out his hands to her. She shyly walked up to Derek and put her tiny hands in his. She reached up and gave him a little kiss on his nose. "Derek, do you have to go?" she asked in a small voice. "When will you come back?" she said on the verge of tears.

"Well sweetheart," he said in a voice so soft that it was almost a whisper. "I'm not exactly sure when I'll be back, but I will come back. I want you to be a good girl for your mommy and soon Santa will be here with all of your toys and you'll forget that I was even here."

"No." she said indignantly. "I will never forget you were here, please come back soon."

"I will try my best. I love you." He said as he kissed her on the forehead and stood up. He looked Meredith in the eyes as he came to her level. "I love you too." And with that, he gave her a long goodbye kiss on the lips and turned for the door.

He stopped as he opened the door and looked back at the two beautiful girls that were before him. His girls. He gave them a longing look, whispered "I will be back, I promise." And with that, he walked out of the house as quiet and as mysteriously as he had come in.


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6-

It had been four days and Meredith had still not heard from Derek. Well, he had called, but every time he called, she was at work or out running an errand. He would leave a message on the machine and just say that he would call back later, not leaving a call back number.

Things seemed so perfect when he was there, she felt so safe and secure, and the old hurt that she felt when he left the first time was starting to creep its way back into her heart. 'What was he doing?' 'Where had he gone?' 'When was he going to be back?' 'IS he going to come back?' All of these questions plagued Meredith's mind, not to mention that she wasn't getting a lot of sleep.

"Dr. Grey!" yelled Dr. Bailey, snapping Meredith out of her daydream. "I said, do you mind closing up? Unless you would like for this guy to go home with his intestines sticking out." She said as she walked towards the scrub room taking her mask off.

"I'm sorry Dr. Bailey, of course I'll close up. I must have slipped into a daydream, I haven't been getting much sleep."

"Don't let it happen again!" Bailey said with a stern look, softening into a smile she said. "If you need to talk, I'm around."

"Thanks Dr. Bailey." Meredith said as she finished up the surgery.

Meredith finishes up the surgery and heads down towards the locker room to change. She has to get home, its almost midnight and she promised Cristina that she wouldn't be home too late. She hurriedly changed out of her scrubs and rushed home.

----------------------------------------

Upon getting to the house, she could see that every light in the house was on.

"That's strange" she said to herself getting out of the car.

When she walked through the door, it looked like a bomb had gone off. There were clothes everywhere, toys everywhere, the cd player was playing the Lion King much too loudly for midnight, and there was sound of her daughter screaming at the top of her lungs coming from upstairs.

"I DON'T WANNA!" "NO!NO!" "I WANT MAMA!" Katherine screams at the top of her lungs over and over. Meredith has never heard her daughter scream like this. She doesn't miss a beat, she climbs the stairs two at a time not knowing what to expect when she gets up there. Katherine is laying on her bed with her princess dress on, pounding her feet on the wall while screaming. Her face is bright red and there are tear stains running down her cheeks. Her dark curly hair is soaked with sweat and sticking to her forehead. Her eyes an intense, angry dark blue. Cristina is sitting in the rocking chair next to the bed trying to get her to calm down, she is trying to touch Katie's face to soothe her but every time Cristina reaches for her, Katie pulls back, howling louder. Her toys are littering the bedroom floor and there are books scattered throughout the room. Cristina looks exhausted, and about ready to just give up. Katie sees her mother walking down the hallway and screams "MAMA!" she runs down the hallway into her mother's arms and begins to sob uncontrollably.

Meredith cradles Katherine, rocking her and running her fingers through her hair to soothe her. Slowly her breathing becomes more normal and her sobs turn into hiccups and she puts her thumb into her mouth. "What's wrong sweetie? Mama is here, don't worry." She turns to Cristina and mouths the words "What happened?"

"She was good some of the time, little temper tantrums, but when I tried to take her princess dress off to get her ready for bed, she went exorcist on me! I chased her around the house and finally got her to come into her room, but she doesn't want to go to sleep. Nothing seems to calm her down. She has never acted this way before."

By this time, Katie's eyelids had become heavy and she started to drift off in her mother's arms. Meredith carefully lifted her daughter onto the bed and wiped the stray tears from her eyes. She moved the little brown ringlets of hair, sweaty and tear soaked off of her forehead and she and Cristina watched as she drifted off to sleep.

Cristina turned on the night light and she and Meredith walked towards the door. They turned off the light in the bedroom and closed the door a little. They quietly made their way downstairs.

When they get downstairs, Meredith and Cristina talk as they clean up the mess that had been made.

"Cris, I don't know what to do. I have never seen her act out this way before! She has been like this since Derek left." Meredith says as she sits on the couch "She doesn't want to eat, she doesn't want to sleep unless I'm close by. Nothing seems to comfort her. She is just inconsolable. She won't even look at her 'daddy book'. She just pushes it away when I try to take it down from the shelf and she yells 'NO' and tries to throw it." Meredith says, tears welling up in her eyes. "She wakes up in the middle of the night with nightmares and cold sweats, I don't think I've slept in four days and on top of that, I have to go to work!"

Cristina sits down on the couch next to her friend and puts a supportive arm around her. "She misses Derek? He was only here for one night. He hasn't even called you?"

"I know, but I think she's waiting for him to come back. Its breaking my heart to see her so sad. I'm worried that she's going to make herself sick. Derek has called me three or four times, but I have been either at work or the store. You know that I've worked a few extra hours here and there to save up time for Christmas. We need to do something to keep her mind off of it."

"Well, Christmas is NEXT WEEK and you guys don't even have a Christmas tree yet. Why don't we fill her up with some holiday spirit, or candy, whichever works. Burke has the afternoon off tomorrow and I don't have to go in until late, why don't we go get her a Christmas tree and when you get home from work tomorrow, we'll all decorate it. Does that sound like a good idea?"

"Cristina! You're a genius! That's a great idea!"

"I know I'm a genius… " she smiles, hopeful that soon her Katie-bug will be back to feeling happy again soon.

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The next morning Meredith leaves for work at 8am. Izzie ventures upstairs to Katie's room at 9 to see why she isn't awake yet. She is usually up and ready to play before Meredith even gets out of bed. She walks into the little girl's room and sees the mess from the day before. She carefully begins to pick up the toys and books that are strewn about the room trying not to wake the little angel. She is lying there peacefully in her bed snuggling under her covers with her fuzzy brown dog, a hint of a smile is on her face. She looks so sweet and innocent, not at all like the screaming little girl that her mother had described to her that morning. Izzie picked up a couple more things and Katie began to stir in her bed. She sat up in bed, wiping the sleep from her eyes, seeing Izzie, she says quietly. "Did Derek come back Aunt Izzie, he promised."

Izzie sat on the end of her bed and gathered the little girl onto her lap pressing a kiss into her messy hair. "No sweetheart, he's not here yet. He'll be back soon, don't worry. Your mom said that you were sad last night, so we have a surprise for you today. How do you feel about getting a Christmas tree with Aunt Cristina and Uncle Doc?"

"A Christmas tree? What's that?" she said, turning around to face Izzie, a curious look on her face.

"Well, we get a pretty spruce tree from a tree farm and we put it up in the living room, and then we decorate it with pretty decorations and when Santa comes, he places all of your Christmas presents beneath it. We had one last year, you might not remember, but we did." Izzie explains.

"Will I like it? Can Derek come and see it? Can I help decorate it?" She asked getting all excited.

"Well, let's wait until Aunt Cristina and Uncle Doc get here this afternoon and we'll ask them ok? Now let's get downstairs and have some breakfast." Izzie said, scooping up the fragile little girl into her arms and bringing her downstairs.

Just as they reach the bottom of the stairs, the phone rings.

"Hello?" Izzie says picking up the phone.

"Izzie? This is Derek, is Meredith around?"

"Nope, she's been taking extra time to make sure she gets enough time off for Christmas. Where are you?"

"Oh, I'm in New York, I have to take care of a few things here and I'll be back."

"How long?" Izzie asked, interrogating him.

"I'm not sure. Trust me, I'll be back. Is Katie there?"

"Yeah, she's right here. Do you have any idea what this child is putting her mother through? She doesn't want to eat or sleep, she asks every morning when you're coming back. She had the biggest temper tantrum last night until Mer got home to quiet her. She misses you Derek."

:Pause: "Can I talk to her?"

"Sure" Izzie says. "Katie, there is someone on the phone that wants to talk to you."

Katie jumps down from the chair she had climbed onto and ran over to Izzie. Izzie hands her the phone. "Hello?" she says sweetly.

"Hi sweetheart." Derek says softly.

"DEREK!" Katie exclaims.

"Yeah sweetie, its Derek, are you being good for you mama?"

"Um, Yes! We are going to get a Christmas tree and decorate and you're going to come see it!" she says excitedly.

"Really? That sounds great! I miss you. I'll be home soon. How high can you count?"

"I can count to twenty!" she says.

"Can you keep a secret? Like you are doing for mommy's Christmas present?" Derek asks smiling

"Yes." She says quietly, looking at Izzie.

"Well sweetheart, I will be home in seven night time sleeps. Ok? Every time you go to sleep at night, you count a number ok? Starting tonight. But you have to promise that you won't tell your mommy or Aunt Izzie or anyone, ok?"

"Yes, ok. I promise." She says, giving Izzie a glance, who is watching intently.

"I love you sweetheart, now you be a good girl and help keep Derek's secret ok?"

"Ok, I love you. Bye Derek."

"Bye sweetheart." Derek says.

Before Izzie can take the phone back from Katie, Katie hits the 'off' button. "Katie! I needed to talk to Derek, what did he say?"

Katie hands the phone over to Izzie and holds her finger to her lips. "Shh, it's a secret." And with that, Katie climbs up to her chair and waits for her Lucky Charms.

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10:00 am

Meredith walked up to the nurses station to write in a chart and get a chart for another patient when the nurse tells her that Dr. Stevens called for Meredith and wanted to talk to her, sounding very urgent. Meredith starts to panic a little as she dials her phone number from the nurse's station. "Izzie? What's wrong? Is it Katie? Is she alright?" Izzie answers her questions with just one statement.

"New York City? What is he doing in New York City?" she says, with tears in her eyes.

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8:00 pm

In a sort of panic, Meredith decided to take a detour on her way home from work. She hadn't been down this long graveled road in over 5 years, yet she remembers it so well. She remembers the first time she saw his trailer and all of the walks that they would take along the wooded trails on his land. But nothing could have prepared her for what she saw when she got to the end of the gravel drive.

Everything was gone.

The trailer was gone, there was nothing there, all that was left that indicated where the trailer once stood was the rectangular footprint, and the marks on the dirt gravel drive from where a truck had come to haul it away. The tire marks on the ground were fresh, maybe two or three days old. Meredith got out of her car and looked around. There was nothing left, nothing. Her knees started to feel weak as she tried to hold back the tears. It was futile. This, combined with the fact that Derek was in New York City, a city of his past, a city and past that she had no part in, caused her to break down. She leaned back against her car and slipped down to a sitting position, wrapping her arms around her knees as her sobs took over her body.

Meredith cried until she had no more tears left to cry, she thought of her daughter at home waiting for her to come home, surrounded by her 'family'. She thought about how sad her sweet angel had been since Derek had left. It broke her heart so much to see her so sad, she was so angry at Derek for leaving again, breaking Katie's little heart. He had been gone for five days, he had tried to call, but that wasn't enough. He wasn't here, that's why she was angry. She had to get home to her sweet little girl, she had to be strong and help her have the best Christmas ever. Using that as her strength, she picked herself up off the ground and brushed herself off, she got into her car and drove home.

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Meredith arrives home, pulling her car into the driveway alongside Burke and Bailey's car. As she approaches the house, she notices the Christmas lights that have been strung along the porch and that Christmas music was coming from inside. It makes her smile to think about how much her 'family' loved her and her daughter. She hoped that the Christmas atmosphere would help to lift both of their spirits.

As she walked up the steps to the house, she could hear everyone laughing inside. It sounded like they were having a great time in there. She peeked in the window of the door before opening it and watched everyone sitting around the living room talking and eating cookies. The tree wasn't decorated yet, they must have been waiting for her to get home. She scanned the group of people there, Bailey and her husband were there with William, Burke and Cristina were sitting on the couch laughing at something one of them said, the kids were sitting on the ground going through Christmas ornaments with George and eating candy canes. Seeing her daughter laughing and happy made her smile. It gave her the strength to open the door and enter this house full of love, family and the Christmas spirit, despite her feelings of sadness and abandonment. Instead of wallowing in self pity and doubt, she took a deep breath and stepped into the house, only to be greeted by open arms and friendly smiles. This was what being a family was all about.


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7-

3:30 am- Christmas morning.

Meredith is laying in bed dreaming when she was awoken by what she thinks is the sound of footsteps. She sat up in bed and listens, she hears someone moving around downstairs. She lays back down thinking that it just must be Izzie putting the finishing touches on the Christmas presents downstairs. She thinks about the complete turn around in attitude that Katie has had in the past week. She seemed to be back to her old self. Izzie had mentioned that she had spoken to Derek, and the only thing that anyone could get out of her was that it was a secret. Meredith decided to try to sleep a little longer, it won't be long until Katie-bug wakes up.

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6:30 am

"mama…mama…." Meredith hears being whispered from next to her bed. She rolls over and Katherine is right in front of her face. "Ah! Katherine, you scared me!"

"I'm sorry mama…" Katie giggles. "Do you think Santa came? I didn't go downstairs, like I promised! Can we go see if Santa came, please?"

"Yeah, but lets go get Aunt Izzie and Uncle Georgie, they'll want to go see if Santa came too." Meredith got out of bed and put her slippers on, put Katherine's hand in hers and they walked down the hallway together, Meredith opened the door to each one and Katherine would run in and give them the 'twinkle torture', they slowly rolled themselves out of the bed and into the hallway. Yawning and wiping their eyes, they watched as Katherine got ready to go downstairs.

The three watched as Katherine went to the top of the stairs, looking down, she turns to her mother "WOW MAMA! SANTA DID COME!" her eyes as wide as could be and the biggest grin on her face.

"Really sweetheart, let's go see!" They all walk downstairs together and all three of their jaws drop. The room is filled with gifts wrapped in brightly wrapped boxes. They had bought a modest number of presents for one another, enough to fill under the tree, but this was not what they had expected. There were presents for everyone, but especially for Katie.

"You guys didn't have to do this!" Meredith says to Izzie and George, who look equally as stunned as she.

"We didn't." they said in unison.

"Then wh…" suddenly the doorbell rings. Katherine runs for the door.

"DEREK!" she says swinging the door open. In walks Derek smiling slyly, holding a handful of presents. "SANTA CAME!"

"He did?" Derek says placing his presents down and picking up the little girl, and planting a kiss on her nose.

"Yeah! Look at them!" She says smiling from ear to ear.

"Wow, that is a lot!" He says, smiling at Meredith, Izzie, and George, who have yet to utter a sound. They just stand there in shock. They couldn't understand why Katie wasn't surprised by Derek's arrival.

"I waited seven whole sleeps for you Derek! You came home like you promised." She said wrapping her tiny arms around his neck kissing him over and over on his cheeks making smoochy noises.

"Derek, you didn't have to do this" Meredith says.

"I didn't!" he says winking. "Santa came!" "Who wants to open presents?" Derek asks moving toward Meredith and dropping a kiss on her cheek.

"MEEE!" yells Katie and George. Izzie, Meredith and Derek look at George.

"What? You asked…" he said shrugging.

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11:30am –

After the last present was opened, everyone was exhausted. George went upstairs to hook up his new computer, Izzie was in the kitchen, getting things prepared to make Christmas dinner and Derek sit on the floor in front of the couch, holding on a tired Meredith, who was in turn, cradling a sleeping Katherine. Her cheeks were pink with happiness and she snored lightly as she slept in her mother's arms. He bent his head down to take in the sweet smell of lavender that her hair gave off. He missed that scent so much. "Mer?" he whispered. "Mer, sweetheart. Why don't we put Katie in her bed. That way she can nap and we can have some cuddle time before everyone gets here and the festivities begin."

"Ok." she responded quietly as she shifted forward as Derek stood up behind her. He walked in front of Meredith and bent down and lifted the little princess from her mother's arms. He gave her a little kiss on the forehead and the three of them ascended the stairs. He reached her room and set her lightly on the soft mattress as Meredith watched from the doorway. He covered her up with her blanket and put her stuffed puppy next to her arm.

He reached out to touch her face and bent down to give her a kiss on her forehead. As he pulled away, he noticed Katie's eyes were open. She was looking at him straight in the eyes.

"Derek?" she said in a small tired whisper.

"Yes sweetheart?"

"Please don't leave again, I missed you." She said, her eyes glistening with unfallen tears.

"I'll see what I can do." He said with a smile. "I love you Katie-bug"

"I love you too Derek." She said half asleep as she cuddled down into her blanket for her nap.

Derek stood up and walked to Meredith. He took her hand and they walked out of the room together, Meredith pulled him into her room and they closed the door.

They walk into the room hand in hand and Meredith walks ahead of him. She turns around to face Derek. She has fire in her eyes, and she is not happy.

"Derek? What the hell do you think you're doing?" She whispers fiercly.

"What do you mean?" he whispers back defensively.

"Well, you waltz into our life, you spend the day with us, you tell us you love us and then you just took off. You left me. You left US. That little girl was heartbroken. You have absolutely no idea what you put her through. She LOVES you, can't you see that?" she vents. "What the hell were you doing in New York? There has to be something you're not telling me! I went down to your place, to see if I could figure out where you were and everything was gone! I thought you were gone!"

This whole time, Derek just stands there taking it, watching her vent and scream at him in a loud whisper. "You're cute when you're angry" he smiles.

"WHAT?" she says loudly. Lowering her voice she continues. "Is that all you have to say? Where were you when we needed you? What were you doing? I want an answer!"

He takes a step closer to her. The fire in her eyes was irresistible. He reaches for her and gives her a deep passionate kiss. She stands there stunned as he lifts her onto the bed, his body over hers, continuing the kiss. He pulls away for just a moment, puts his finger to his lips and says.

"Shhh…. It's a secret."

She gives in to his game and they make love, afterwards falling to sleep in one another's arms.

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3:00 pm.

:knock knock: "Mommy, Derek, are you in there?"

"Mommy's coming sweetheart, she's just putting her shoes on" Meredith says as she gets dressed.

"Derek, Derek! It's time to get up, its probably almost time for dinner." Meredith says urgently. Derek groggily looks up at her and smiles. She bends down and gives him a kiss. "Get up, before she opens the door!" she says as she hears the door knob wiggling.

Derek leaps from the bed and grabs a towel next to the bed wrapping it around himself and runs into the bathroom. Meredith smacks him on the butt as he runs past. "Ow!" he exclaims as he turns and gives her a fake dirty look and closes the door.

"Mommy, why is the door locked?" the little voice says from the other side of the door.

She laughs as the bathroom door opens and Derek pretends he's glaring at her. "Because mommy wants to look pretty for Christmas dinner, so she wants it to be a surprise. Did Uncle Georgie get your Christmas dress out for you?

"Yes mommy, I'm all dressed, Aunt Izzie wants you to hurry up, she wants you to help! Is Derek in there with you?" she says, urgently.

"Yes sweetheart, I'm in here, I'm getting dressed too." Derek says from the bathroom as he buttons his shirt.

"Don't look at him mommy, he's a boy, you say that lady's don't look at boys when they are dressing, remember when you said that about uncle Georgie cuz he got mad at me because I was opening the bathroom door when he was in the shower and running? Remember mommy? Remember?" she rants.

Derek and Meredith laughs. "yes sweetheart, I remember, now go downstairs and help Aunt Izzie, ok?

"Alright mommy, I love you mommy, I love you Derek." They listen as they hear her little dress shoes make their way down the stairs.

Derek pulls Meredith close. "The door was locked the whole time? You are sneaky." He says with a playful smile.

"You play your games, I play mine." She says with a smile, unlocking the door and walking out.

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Meredith and Derek descend the stairs slowly, looking into the living room, they see Katie-bug sitting on the floor with George playing with the plastic train that "Santa" brought for her. She is dressed in a red velvet dress with a white sash tied in a bow around her waist and her hair has been delicately placed in curly little pigtails on the top of her head, each tied with a velvet bow. She turns to see Meredith and Derek. "Hi mama, hi Derek, you look pretty." She says smiling.

"Mmm… what's cooking. " Derek says moving to the kitchen. As soon as he stepped into the kitchen, Izzie put him to work.

About 20 minutes later, the guests started arriving, each carrying boxes of gifts. Cristina and Burke, Bailey, Tucker and William, Alex, Adele and Richard Webber. Meredith is surprised that anyone is still at the hospital as they crowd into the house. They all sit down to a loud, rambunctious dinner, everyone talking and laughing with one another as they enjoy the dinner that Izzie prepared. After dinner, everyone crowded into the living room with their glasses of eggnog, to open presents from one another. Everyone was talking and laughing at the same time when Derek nervously fiddled with the gift in his pocket, trying to figure out exactly how he was going to present his gift. After a few minutes, he raised his glass of eggnog and clinked a spoon to it to get everyone's attention.

"Hey everyone, I have a special gift to give! I want everyone here, our family, to witness it." He said smiling nervously as he pulled a black ring box from his pocket.

Everyone gasped when they saw what he was holding in his hand. There was a slight murmur of anticipation. Meredith's jaw dropped as he bent down on one knee next to where she was sitting, with Katie in her lap. He opened the ring box.

"Katherine, this ring is very special to me. It is very special to my family. It is what they call a Claddagh Ring. A long time ago, when my great-great-grandmother came to the United States from Ireland, she brought this ring with her. It is a very important part of my heritage. If you look closely to it, you will see that it has two hands clasping a heart, topped by a crown. The hands represent friendship, the crown represents loyalty, and the heart, represents love. I want to give this ring to you Katherine, because I want to be your friend, I want you to know that I will always be there for you, and that I will always love you. But first Katherine, can I ask you an important question. Its very important."

"Yes." Katie says, staring at the ring that Derek is holding before her. Meredith watches in awe.

"Katherine, will you be my daughter? Can I be your daddy?" he says, his voice cracking, tears coming to his eyes. Tears were coming to everyone's eyes.

"You want to be my daddy, Derek?" Katherine says innocently, tilting her head in curiosity.

"I so much want to be your daddy!" Derek says, as their blue eyes lock.

"I LOVE YOU DADDY" she says as she throws her arms around his neck, giggling as he envelops her into his arms she takes the ring and holds it in her hands as she looks at it. Derek takes a little chain out of his pocket, carefully slips the ring on it, he puts the chain around her neck and clasps it. "This is so that you can wear it, until it fits your finger" He smiled.

"Thank you, Daddy." She said, hugging Derek tightly. Meredith is looking on with tears in her eyes, she has never seen her daughter so happy.

Everyone started to talk happily, congratulating Derek and admiring Katie's ring. Derek, still holding Katherine in his arms whispers into her ear. She returns his whisper with a beautiful smile as she runs off into the kitchen. She returns holding another gift in her hands, she hands it to Derek.

"Hey everyone, the gift giving is not over yet! I still haven't given Meredith her present from me." Everyone quiets down as he hands Meredith a small beautifully wrapped gift.

"What is this?" she asked, with a grin.

"Open it!" Derek and Katie say together feigning impatience.

Meredith carefully removes the bow from the gift, she lightly tears the tape from the box and pulls the wrapping paper away. It reveals a small square box. Everyone is entranced by the opening of the gift. She carefully opens the box to reveal a golden band with three diamonds atop it.

"Meredith," Derek says, bending on one knee and taking the box from her. "If I were a man on a life raft in the middle of the ocean, you would be the sunshine that helps me know the day from the night, you would be the water that keeps me afloat, you would be the fish, that keep me from starving, you would be the rain, that gives me a fresh drink when I am parched, and you would be the one to rescue me from my loneliness." He said, choking back tears.

"You have rescued me Meredith. You gave me a family, you gave me a home. Will you be mine forever? Will you Marry me?" tears dropped from his eyes.

Meredith reached her hand to his cheek, she lightly touched his face and moved in for a kiss. She laid a gentle kiss on his lips. "Yes." She said. "Of course I will. I love you."

He moves in and kisses her, as he slips the ring on her finger and as everyone starts to talk excitedly.

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Later that evening, after everyone had left, Derek and Meredith lie on the couch together, exhausted from all of the events of the day. Katherine had long been put to bed with all of her new stuffed animals and her ring carefully placed in the jewelry box that Aunt Izzie had given her. Derek lay with his back against the back of the couch and Meredith was snuggled up with her back against his chest. He with his eyes closed and she admiring her ring finger.

"So, this is what you have been up to for the last two weeks?" She asked coyly.

"Yep." He said softly, dropping a kiss on her head. "Do you like it?"

"Of course I like it! I love it!" she responded, looking up, his eyes looking down at her. "But this wasn't why you went out in New York, and this has nothing to do with the fact that your trailer is not there anymore." She said sadly.

"Nope, that isn't. I can tell you one of two things. I can either tell you why the trailer is missing, or I can tell you why I was in New York. You can only choose one thing. The other is going to have to be a surprise for later."

"Oh yeah?" she says, feigning amusement. "ok, tell me why you were in New York."

"Ok, I was in New York to pick up Katie's present. I visited my mother and sister, told them all about Katie and I asked if I could give her the ring." He said smiling.

"It was a beautiful gift. However, that doesn't address the 'surprise' aspect of why you were going out to New York. What would have been a surprise?" she said, turning on the couch to face him.

"Well…." Derek said, smiling. "Um…"

"Spill it, buster" she said, poking him lightly on the nose.

"My mother, father and sisters all want to meet you and Katie. She invited us to spend New Years in New York." He said kind of embarrassed.

"They want to meet me?" she said surprised.

"Yeah, they want to meet the woman that I won't shut up about. They want to spoil Katherine, and my sisters want to interrogate you." He smiled.

"That doesn't scare me." She said with a smile.

"Ok then, I'll call mom tomorrow and tell her that we're coming for New Years." He smiled. "What is on the agenda for tomorrow?"

"Well, Katherine and I had planned to visit my mother. Christmas is so busy in the nursing home, we usually visit the day after. If you'd like to come with us, you're invited." She said quietly.

"I would love to!" He smiled, hugging her closer.

They were quiet for a few minutes until Meredith broke the silence. "Derek?"

"Mmm?" he replied.

"Why is the trailer gone?" she asked looking up at him with a sly grin.

He carefully sat up on the couch and crawled over her to stand up. "That, my love. Is a surprise." He said, lifting her up into his arms. "And I think you've had enough surprises for one day." She snuggled into his arms, feeling safe and warm and with that, he carried her upstairs to bed.

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The next day, they wake up and Meredith, Katie, and Derek prepare to visit Ellis at the nursing home. Meredith is so relieved that she doesn't have to go back to work until after New Years, all that extra work is paying off for some well needed time off. When they arrive at the nursing home, Derek goes to open his door and Meredith takes his hand.

"Derek." She says, obviously concerned.

"What sweetheart, what's wrong?" Derek says in a soft voice, touching the side of Meredith's face.

"I don't know…. I um… its my mother. She hasn't been doing very well at all recently. The last time you saw her, she was having more good days than bad days. Well, for the past two months, she has been having some really bad days. She has been having problems talking and moving around a lot. Katie and I visit her so that she knows that someone is around, someone loves her. Very often, we just sit with her and she doesn't say anything. I don't want you to feel like you have to do this if you don't want to." Meredith said, very concerned.

"Mer. I see patients who are sick and aging every day. This is your mother. She may not act like the same woman you knew when you were growing up, she may not recognize you. But you love her, and that makes me love her too. Let's go in and have a good visit. They get out of the car and Derek gets Katie out of her car seat and they walk into the nursing home.

Meredith's mother was more lucid than she had been in months. She recognized Meredith and Katherine and was able to have a nice chat for a little while. She spoke with Derek about surgeries and his travels.

As the day passed, her demeanor began to get a little foggier. They could tell that she must have getting tired because her speech was starting to slur a little and she was starting to forget things and repeat things that had already been seen.

They left Meredith's mother after a few hours and Meredith could only think about how sweet and kind Derek had been to her, how he even made her mother laugh with a couple of his stories. This made Meredith even happier than she was when she woke up that morning, and it made her feel a little less nervous about the impending meeting with Derek's family. If his family was half as sweet, tender, and caring as Derek, then she would be one lucky woman.


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8-

December 30th.

"Hey, there's no need to be nervous Mer, they're going to love you." Derek says from the drivers seat as they leave the airport in their rental car. "We only have to deal with my mom and dad tonight, and my sister's families will be around tomorrow."

"Will they like me, daddy?" Katie asks curiously from her car seat, holding tightly to her fuzzy puppy.

"Of course they're going to like you, silly." Derek says, smiling at her in the rear view mirror, she sees his reflection and smiles brightly and turns to look at all the big buildings they were passing by.

"The only thing you have to remember is a few names, and it doesn't even matter if you get those right. There are going to be fifteen kids running around my mother's house, do you think you're going to be able to remember any of their names." He laughs. "you're not even going to remember Katie's name you're going to be so overwhelmed." He looks over at her and she's staring straight out the window looking very concerned. "I'm just kidding! All of the kids are great, you're going to do great!" She smiled weakly. "Just be glad that my parents don't live right in Manhattan anymore, we won't have to deal with the Time's Square traffic and the kids will have a hill to go sledding down."

"I'm beginning to think that this was a mistake." Meredith says, still looking out the window.

"Coming to New York?" He asks.

"No" she laughs… "Agreeing to marry you!" she laughs a full laugh and he laughs along with her as they head to Derek's parents house.

------------------------------------

-----------------------------------

They arrive at Derek's parents house just in time for dinner. Derek gets out of the car and opens Meredith's door for her. He proceeds to get Katie out of her car seat. "Daddy?" Katie gives him an inquisitive look as he lifts her into his arms.

"Yes, little Katie-bug?"

"Where are we?" she whispers, looking at the big house that they were standing in front of.

"Well, this is where my mommy and daddy live"

"Oh!" she says smiling.

The three of them walk up to the door, Meredith lags behind a bit, letting Derek be the one to ring the doorbell. The door opens to reveal Derek's mother, Meredith could tell where he got his smile from. "Derek!" his mother exclaimed, throwingher armsaround his neck in a big hug. Katherine immediately buries her face into Derek's neck. "Oh! Come in, don't stand out there in the cold!" she said as she ushered them into the front hall. "And who is this?" She says, indicating Meredith and Katie.

"I'm Meredith Grey." Meredith says, holding out her hand to shake Derek's mothers, only to be grabbed and hugged furiously.

"Oh, Meredith, it is so great to finally meet you. All Derek does is talk about you, its so great to finally connect a face with your name!" she said as she released the hug and looked over at Katherine, who is still burying her face into Derek's neck. "And who is this little girl?"

"This is Katherine, mom. She is a little shy right now, but once you open her up, she'll never stop talking." Derek said with a laugh.

Katherine peeked over at her grandmother for a second, seeing her kind eyes, she slowly lifted her head from Derek's shoulder and looked into her eyes. She smiled a slight little smile and held out her hand. "Hi, My name is Katherine Elisabeth Shepherd. I'm going to be four." She said quietly.

Derek's mother took her tiny hand in hers and shook it. "Well, its nice to meet you Katherine. I'm Der… your daddy's mommy." She smiled brightly thinking about her son being a father. "You can call me Nana, that's what all my grandchildren call me." She said with a kind smile.

Katherine lightly pulls back her hand and smiles. "Do you have any cookies Nana, I'm hungry."

They all laugh "Actually, dinner is all ready, we can have cookies after, does that sound good?"

"Yes, thank you." Katie says quietly and buries her face back in Derek's neck.

"Well, dinner is ready, let's get those coats off and get ready to sit down. Your dad went to the store to get some wine, he'll be back shortly. They remove their coats and move on to the dining room.

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Meredith gets Katie's hands washed for dinner in the upstairs bathroom as Derek helps his mother to set the table and put the food out for dinner.

"So mom, what do you think of Meredith?" Derek asked proudly.

"I think she is a very sweet girl. Very quiet though, but she seems to love you for some reason." His mother laughed. "And that Katherine, she's going to be a little spit-fire. She looks just like you, she has those Shepherd blue eyes. I've never seen such a well mannered little girl."

"She is just like her mother." Derek says happily.

"Are you going with your Brother in laws and father tomorrow morning? They were hoping that you'd go, and the girls were hoping we'd get some alone time with Meredith and Katherine."

"Yeah, I would love to go!" Derek exclaimed as Meredith and Katherine enter the kitchen.

"Go where?" Meredith asked.

"Oh, anytime the family gets together in the winter, all of the boys go out ice fishing together. I was thinking it would give you an opportunity to get to know my sisters." He said smiling, giving her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Sure. That sounds like fun." Meredith said smiling, trying to convince herself that there was no reason to feel awkward. "Do you need any help with anything?" Meredith asked.

"Nope, I think we have everything all settled. I think I just heard Dad come in." Derek says to his mother. As soon as this is said, Derek's father walks into the room. He's about Derek's height with salt and pepper hair, and the resemblance to Derek is incredible, right down to the piercing blue eyes.

"Well! It looks like our guests are here!" he says as he sets the groceries on the counter. He reaches out and gives Meredith a hug. "You must be Meredith. It's great to finally meet you!" he smiles warmly. At his initial entrance, Katie retreated behind Derek's leg, occasionally peeking out at the new person in the room.

"Dad, there's someone else that we'd like you to meet. She just had her first ride on an airplane today, just to come out here and visit you!"

"Really? I don't see anyone else here." He said with a laugh, pretending he was looking around the room.

Katherine looks up at Derek as if asking for approval. "I went on a plane today." She said quietly.

"Really?" Derek's father said "I fly airplanes all the time, and I love it when special people come to visit me." He held out his hand to the little girl, trying to coax her from behind Derek's leg. "Hi. All the kids that come around here call me Pop-pop. What's your name?"

"My name is Katie." She said quietly and still cautious as she reaches her hand out to put in his.

"Well Katie, are you ready for some dinner? I am hungry!" he said rubbing his tummy. She giggled and nodded, and he led her to the dining room.


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9-

4:30 am – December 31st.

Derek quietly gets up from bed and prepares for his fishing trip with his brother in laws and father. He is very careful not to wake Meredith or Katie as he gets ready. He drops a kiss onto Meredith's lips, placing a lock of hair that had fallen behind her ear.

"Mmm…" she grumbled sleepily. "Keep that up and you're not going fishing today." She smiled.

"I'll see you soon my love. You have fun with my sisters, it won't be too bad, you'll fit in perfectly." He whispered. He bent down and gave Katie a kiss on her forehead and sighed in relief that he hadn't woken her up. "We will be home in time for dinner and party festivities." He smiled. "I love you." He then realized that she had already fallen back to sleep. He smiled warmly and headed for the door, he quietly opened it and took one more look back. Seeing his two girls laying there sleeping warmed his heart more than he could ever imagine, he sighed in happiness as he closed the door behind him and headed downstairs.

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10:00 am

Meredith slowly wakes up, it takes her a moment to realize where she is. She looks around the room for Katherine, but she's not around. She quickly gets up and quietly opens the door, she listens for only a second and she can hear her chatty three-year-old downstairs filling Derek's mother with all kinds of stories of her favorite things to do and the gifts that Santa brought her. She smiles, and closes the door and goes to take a shower and get ready for the day.

All dressedand showered, she walked downstairs to the kitchen, she peeks around the corner and sees Katie sitting at the stool at the counter watching Derek's mother cook breakfast.

"So, are you excited about meeting all of your new cousins?" Derek's mom says turning to smile at Katie, her smile widening seeing Meredith coming into the room.

"Oh yes! Daddy says that mommy is going to forget my name because there will be so many kids here." She giggles, causing Meredith to laugh.

"So, has she been talking your ears off all morning? She has a tendency to do that." Meredith says smiling, walking over behind Katie, dropping a kiss into her curly hair.

"Nope, she just wanted to share her stories with us." Derek's mother smiled. "She is very smart. Probably one of the most polite little girls that I have had the pleasure to meet." Derek's mother says handing Meredith a plate with eggs and toast on it. "Here, eat, the girls will be here soon with the kids, then there won't be any time for eating."

"Thank you." Meredith smiled.

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At the lake-

"So Derek, how do you like being a dad?" Neil asked his brother in law as they sit in front of the ice fishing hole that they're sharing.

"Ahh, you mean, how do I like being a 'daddy', I love it! She is so smart, and the sweetest little princess. It is a lot of responsibility, but I love her and Meredith so much." Derek beamed.

"You should try having four of them! I think that becoming a dad has been one of the most rewarding things that I have ever done." Neil says, daydreaming a bit.

"I'm so glad I came home. Now I have a family and I'm going to be getting married again. It is like starting my life over again, except there is a little extra there, it just makes everything so much brighter." Derek smiled.

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The Shepherd's house-

:ding dong:

"That must be one of the girls." Derek's mother said, getting up from beside Meredith on the couch. "I'll be right back."

Meredith could hear her opening the door and her greeting someone, and she could hear the pounding of little feet through the house. Katherine was sitting on her mother's lap, they waited nervously as she heard people coming down the hallway. Meredith stood up and positioned Katie on her hip. Derek's mother walked in followed by two women with shoulder length black hair and blue eyes one was carrying an infant, and they were being followed by a group of children. "Meredith, this is Emma and Laura, two of Derek's sisters, and this is little Sarah, she said indicating the baby in Emma's arms. This is Elizabeth, Julie and Davy. They are Emma's children and this is Clarissa, Megan and Ryan, Laura's three. Leah and Mary should be along shortly, why don't we put the kids in the playroom and we can all visit?" The children hurriedly rushed passed their grandmother to the playroom.

"Hello Meredith, its so nice to finally meet you! Who is this you have there?" Emma said, indicating shy little Katie.

"This is Katie, she's a little shy, but she should be alright playing with the others in the playroom." Meredith said, trying to pry Katie's fingernails out of her shoulder as she pushed farther into her mother's arms. Meredith lifts Katie to the ground and stands her up. "Katherine, what do we do when we meet new people?"

Katie looked up at her mother with pleading eyes and looked over to the Emma and Laura. "Hi, my name is Katherine Elisabeth Shepherd and I'm going to be four." She said proudly. Everyone smiled and Katherine slowly made her way to the playroom with the other children, pausing to give her mother a puppy dog look before venturing into the playroom.

After some kind words and introduction, the front door opened and two women with dark blonde hair came in with their brood of children. Everyone stood up to greet them. One of the women came right up to Meredith and gave her a hug. "Hi Meredith! I'm Mary, it's so nice to finally meet you! This is Amanda she says indicating the toddler in her arms and this is Emily, Matthew, and Mikey." She says as she indicates the three older children running to find their cousins.

"And I'm Leah, and my four are already gone, but they're Ian, Nicole, Lexi, and Chloe. Its alright, it's a little overwhelming with all the names, don't worry about it though." Leah said with a hug. "So, what have we been talking about while our manly men are off ice fishing?" Leah said sitting down with the other girls for some good gossip on her brother and his fiancé.  
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At the Lake-

"Hey Neil, I'm going to go back to the truck for a couple of beers, do you want anything?" Derek says.

"Sure, could you get me a beer?" Neil replies.

"Sure can." Derek says as he makes his way out of the fishing cabin.

Derek is gone for about five minutes before Neil realizes that Derek forgot the truck keys, he runs out after him with the keys in his hand.

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The Shepherd's house-

"And when Derek was eight, he used to help mom in the kitchen all the time, baking cookies for our girl scout meetings! It was so cute!" All of the women laughed at Laura's story. "Hey, the kids are being pretty quiet, I wonder how they're doing."

"Yeah, I was wondering the same thing, Katie seemed a little nervous, I wonder how she's feeling." Emma said. This made Meredith even more at ease knowing that she wasn't the only one concerned for her daughter's comfort.

The five women slowly went down the hallway to where the playroom was. It was actually a living room sized room with a big television and plenty of toys, but big enough for all of the children to play and have a good time. They were surprised to see half of the kids sleeping in front of a Disney movie on the television and the other half were just quietly playing with other toys. Katherine had found some construction paper and crayons in the corner and was coloring a picture alongside Megan and Lexi. She looked like she fit right in with the family, this made Meredith smile as the women made their way back to the living room to prepare for the New Year's party that evening.

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At the lake-

Derek's father, Tony, Joe and David are all in one fishing cabin drinking beer and relaxing when the door flies open. A figure comes running in.

"COME QUICK! CALL 911! HE FELL THROUGH THE ICE!"

All of the men drop their fishing gear and run out of the fishing cabin.

The five men rushed to where Neil had pulled Derek from the water, he lay there shivering and wet, his lips turning blue in the cold. He is unresponsive and disoriented, his breathing becoming shallow. David is on his cell phone calling the ambulance.

"Come on, we have to get him to shelter quickly! We need to warm him up gradually, at least attempt to dry him off before the ambulance gets here." Derek's father screams, panicked. "What the hell happened, Neil?"

"He was heading back to the truck to get us some more beer and he had forgotten the keys. I tossed them to him but he missed them, I must have tossed them on a thinner area of ice and he didn't notice. When he stepped on it, the ice cracked and he fell through, I used a branch and was able to pull him out, I'm so stupid! Why couldn't I just have handed him the stupid keys!" he says putting his head in his hands.

"That's enough moping, let's get him into the shelter! Neil, when we get in there, call Meredith and she can meet us at the hospital." Derek's father says as the men begin to lift Derek off the ice and into the cabin off the water.


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10-

The ambulance arrives and they load Derek into the back of it. He is obviously in shock and unresponsive. He is transported to the nearest hospital and they work quickly to slowly warm his body. Meredith was called by Neil, and she was going to meet them at the hospital, leaving Katie at the house with the Shepherds. Meredith runs through the hospital emergency door and to the first counter that she sees.

"I'm Dr. Meredith Grey, I'm looking for my fiancé, Derek Shepherd, he was brought in for hypothermia." She frantically announced.

The nurse looked at her chart and looked up at Meredith. "Ms. Grey, Mr. Shepherd is in pretty bad shape right now, the gentlemen that brought him in are in the waiting area around the corner. The doctor should be out shortly with his assessment as to his condition, if you'd like to wait over there, you may."

"Oh Thank you!" Meredith exclaimed and ran to the waiting room, seeing the only familiar face, Derek's father, she rushed over to him. "What happened? How did this happen? Have you heard anything?" she frantically asked.

Derek's father opened his arms and gave Meredith a full hug, causing all of the tears that she was holding in side to be released. "Well sweetie, he was heading out to the car and accidently stepped on some thin ice. Neil was the only one there at the time so he had a little difficulty getting him out, but he was able to get him out of the water, by the time we got him to shelter, he was already in shock." She began to cry harder.

"He'll be alright, Mer, he'll be alright, he's a tough guy, and he's got you and Katie to fight for, so don't worry sweetheart." Her sobs slowly quieted as Mr. Shepherd held her and the doctor walked in.

"Mr. Shepherd?" The doctor said somberly, holding his hand out to Derek's father. Meredith stepped back and Mr. Shepherd held out his hand to shake it. "I'm Dr. Simons, it appear your son obviously suffered from minor hypothermia. We were able to bring his body temperature up, though we gave him some pain medication for the frostbite on the tips of his fingers and his toes. When you go see him, he will be on a heart monitor, we had a little difficulty when we first got him in because he was having difficulty breathing and we had to perform CPR. He's a little out of it right now, but we think its best if he stay for observation, and then he can go home tomorrow or the next if his condition improves."

"Thank you, Doctor. Can he have visitors?" Mr. Shepherd asked.

"We're going to put him in a regular room, and then he can have a visitor or two." Dr. Simons smiled. "He's going to be alright." The doctor smiled.

The doctor walked away and Meredith sat down heavily in the chair, like a great weight had been lifted from her shoulders. Mr. Shepherd sits next to her and puts his hand on her shoulder and pulls out his cell phone to call his wife to let her know the news. The four men whom Meredith knew were Derek's brother-in-laws sit beside her with sad, somber looks on their faces, each are obviously deeply in thought.

The nurse walks up to the group and says "Mr. Shepherd can have guests right now, I can show you where is room is." Everyone stood up and looked at one another.

"Meredith, you go, we'll visit him when you get back." Neil said speaking up, the rest of the men nodded. Meredith followed the nurse down the hallway to the door of a room, where the nurse stopped and motioned inside. "This is the room" the nurse said. Seeing the look of concern in Meredith's eyes, she whispered. "He'll be alright hon, don't worry."

Meredith smiled weakly and walked into the room as the nurse turned and walked down the hallway. He looked so vulnerable lying in the bed. His hair was a mess, His lips were chapped from the cold and his fingers on his right hand were covered in bandages. He was connected to a heart monitor and had an IV running fluids into him. She moved closer to him, his eyes closed in sleep. She sat in the chair next to the bed and looking down, touched his left hand, pulling it to her lips. Just as her warm lips touched his hand, he squeezed her hand, his face wincing in pain. His eyes opened slightly, looking vacant and glassy from the pain medication. "Hey." He said in a raspy voice.

The sound of his voice caused her head to whip up and look straight in his eyes. Her gaze caused the cloudiness from his eyes to disappear and be replaced with a look of longing and love. "I missed you." Derek said, struggling to get the words out.

"I missed you. You scared the crap out of me you know." She lectured, with a slight grin playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Ha. You and me both. Where is my little angel?" He said, looking concerned.

"She's at your mother's house. Which, by the way, has been overrun by kids. She'll be here in a little while, your mom is bringing her." He smiled slightly at the thought of his little girl. "I love you." Meredith said, bending down to give him a kiss and smoothing back his hair.

"I love you more." Derek said, reaching his left arm up and pulling her in for a deeper kiss, oblivious and not caring about the pain he had in his arm.

-------------------

Meredith held Derek for several minutes until her cell phone rang in her purse. She gently unwrapped Derek's arms from hers and answered the phone.

"Hello? Oh sure, you can come up now, its room 245." Meredith smiled as she hung up the phone.

"Hey, you aren't supposed to have a cell phone in a hospital room." Derek joked.

"Do you want your daughter to come visit you or not?" Meredith laughed.

"I didn't say anything, must be these drugs that I'm on." He laughed back.

The door to the room then opened and in walked Derek's mother and Katie. "Oh Derek! I'm so glad you're alright!" his mother exclaimed.

"Daddy! What happened?" Katie said concerned. "Do you have an owie?" she said as she climbed up onto her mother's lap and leaned over the bed.

"Yeah sweetie, daddy has an owie. But he's much better now that you're here." Derek smiled, leaning to give her a kiss.

"Feel better daddy." She said leaning over giving him a kiss on his cheek. "I colored you a picture." She said, revealing a piece of construction paper with drawings on it.

"Wow, that is a great picture! I love it!" Derek exclaimed. As Derek admired the picture, the door to the room opened and revealed Derek's father and brother's in law. Derek smiles sleepily at his company

His father laughs as he stands near the door holding it open for another person. "Look who I found out in the hallway!" Derek's father says revealing another guest. Derek, Meredith and Derek's mother do a double-take.

"Wow" Derek says, giving Meredith an apologetic, pleading look. "This room sure is getting crowded."


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11-

"Hi Derek, long time no see." Addison says, stepping into the room.

"Hi Addison, yeah, it's been a little while." Everyone is pretty quiet, wondering what is going to be said next.

Suddenly, not being able to stand the tension in the room, Meredith stood up and picked up Katie. "Uh, I have a couple of phone calls to make, you guys visit and I'll be back in a little while." She said in a semi-panicked tone.

"Mer." Derek said pleading.

"I'll be right back, I have a couple of phone calls to make, I promised Izzie I'd call her." And she put Katherine on her hip and started for the door.

"Mama! I wanted to visit daddy!" Katherine said, tears coming to her eyes, reaching her arms out to Derek.

"Not right now Katie, mommy has a couple of things to do. Derek's family wants to visit with him right now." Meredith said to Katie, the sound of his name coming from Meredith to Katie breaking Derek's heart. "We'll be back in a little while." Meredith said as she quickly exited the room.

------------------------

As soon as Meredith was out of the room with Katie, she ran down the hallway and into the nearest stairwell. She set Katie down on the step next to her and began to cry.

Katie stood next to her mother, rubbing her back. "Mama, why are you crying mama? Please don't cry." Katie said, almost in tears.

"I'm ok sweetheart, mama's ok. She just had to get a little sadness out." She said, sniffling, giving Katie a hug. "Do you want to go call Aunt Izzie?" Meredith said, wiping her tears and gaining her composure.

"YES! But then can we go visit daddy?" Katie said, giving her mother a sad face.

"We can go see daddy after." She said as she picked up Katie and they walked back into the hallway to find a lounge to make their phone call.

--------------------------

"Well, I'm on call tonight, and since you're going to be here for a couple of nights, maybe I'll visit and we can catch up?" Addison said innocently.

"Yeah, maybe, that would be nice." Derek said, trying to be polite in front of his parents.

"Well, I'll see you later then. It was nice seeing everyone again." Addison said, giving Derek's mom a hug and bending down to give Derek a kiss on the cheek. "Feel better" she said, inches from Derek's face in a breathy tone. With that she turned and left the room.

Everyone turned and watched her leave, instantly feeling the tension lift as she closed the door behind her.

"Mom, can you go find Meredith for me? I need to talk to her." Derek said sleepily.

"Sure sweetheart, are you alright? Why did she leave so suddenly?"

"I don't know, mom. She must have forgotten something she was going to tell Izzie." Derek lied. Derek's mother went to find Meredith.

"We're going to get going, son." Derek's dad said, indicating the brother in laws. "The girls are getting ready for the party tonight, and we should get changed. We are so sorry for what happened today!"

"It's alright dad, Neil. It was an accident. I wish my visit could have been a little more than a trip to the hospital. I'm so glad you got to meet Meredith and Katherine. Hopefully you will be able to spend a little time with them and get to know them."

"They really are great." Derek's father smiled. They all filed out of the room one by one each giving Derek a very light brotherly punch on the shoulder.

Several minutes later, Derek's mother, followed by Meredith and Katie enter the room. "Sweetheart, I'm going to go home right now, your sisters are probably going crazy with all of the kids in one house together. You and Meredith have a nice talk and I'll be sure to visit tomorrow. I'll call later. Feel better sweetie." Mrs. Shepherd says, giving her son a kiss on the forehead. "Meredith and Katie, I'll see you at home later." She said, giving Meredith a hug and received a hug from Katie."

"Bye Nana!" Katherine exclaimed as she closed the door to the room.

Meredith hands Katie a package of crayons and a coloring book that they had purchased from the gift shop and she sits on the floor and begins to color. Meredith sits next to Derek and takes his hand. "Mer, why did you get so upset? It was only Addison, I love YOU."

"I know, but I'm so insecure, I just got you back and just seeing her brings back so many bad memories." Meredith said, leaning her head on his hand.

"You have nothing to worry about. You are not hiding anything from me, and I am not hiding anything from you, I love you and our relationship can grow now. There is nothing standing in the way." Derek said sincerely.

Meredith paused for a moment, thinking about what he said. "I love you too. And I trust you." She said, giving him a kiss. "You look exhausted. You need to get some sleep." "Listen, it's almost 4:00 right now, why don't you sleep and Katie and I will go to your parents party. I'll talk to the nurses to see if they'll let me in after visiting hours and I'll visit you before midnight and we can have our own New Years party."

"Meredith, I'm in a hospital room!" Derek said playfully.

She smacks him lightly on the shoulder. "Not that kind of party!"

"Ow…" he rubs his shoulder, feigning pain. "Ok. I love you guys."

Meredith bent down and gave him a deep kiss on the lips. "You behave yourself young man. I'll be back later. Katie, say goodbye."

Katie puts her crayons down and climbs up onto the chair next to the bed. "Daddy, you be a good boy and have sweet dreams. Feel better and then you can hug me soon!" Katie said, dropping a kiss on Derek's nose.

Meredith picked up Katie's coloring book and crayons and set them on a table in the room. She picked up Katie and they waved goodbye as they left the room.

Derek smiled and closed his eyes, getting ready to take his nap. With Meredith on his mind, he sighed happily and pulled his blanket up. He didn't even hear the door open and someone walk in. He was suddenly startled by the sound of a voice.

"I thought they'd never leave."

Derek's eyes pop open. "Addison, what are you doing? I'm tired, I just want to go to sleep."

"I'm just visiting an old friend." She said seductively as she touched Derek's cheek. He pushed her hand away, repulsed. "So, what are you doing in town, you've been gone for quite a while."

"I came back for Meredith. I had a lot of time to think and I am ready to give myself to someone, I'm not ashamed at myself anymore and I am happy with Meredith, and Katie makes everything all the sweeter." He smiled as he thought of the two loves of his life.

"Oh, so you are positive that Katherine is yours huh?" Addison says, seeing a look of confusion cross his face. "Let's just say that Meredith went on a little 'marathon' after you left, that child could be half of Seattle's for all you know."

Derek's brow furrowed as he angrily replied "That little girl looks exactly like me! She has my eyes for God's sake!"

"Come on Derek, you think that you're the only person that Meredith slept with that had blue eyes? Give me a break. You came back and Meredith thought you'd be great 'daddy' material."

"Get out! GET OUT NOW!" Derek yelled.

"Fine, but when you find out that she lied to you, don't come crying to me." Addison said as she left the room, closing the door behind her.

"Meredith would never lie to me." Derek said, trying to convince himself. "There is no way…" Derek lay back, thoughts of anger, confusion, and doubt fill his mind as he drifts to sleep.

------------------------------

11:00 pm- Derek's hospital room.

Meredith quietly enters Derek's darkened room, the only light is the slight glint of the moon passing through the window shades. Meredith can sense that something is wrong as she moves to turn the light on. She turns on the light and Derek is lying partially on his side, sleeping, with tears running down his eyes, a slight wimper escapes his lips. Meredith rushes to his bedside. "Derek…. Derek its me, wake up." She says, touching his face, wiping his tears.

"Wha..? Oh Meredith!" Derek says, startled from his nightmare. He grabs Meredith into a big hug, not caring that he was still in pain.

"Are you alright? What were you dreaming about sweetheart?" Meredith said, cradling Derek's head in her arms.

"Uh, I don't remember." Derek lied. "But it was pretty bad." He gave her a sad look.

"Ahh, its alright, I'm here. We're going to have fun for hour last hour this year right?" Meredith smiled, trying to lighten the mood.

"Wha? Oh.. yeah!" Derek faked a smile.

"What's wrong?" Meredith asked, sensing his dark mood.

"Oh, its nothing, I'm just waking up, I'll be alright."

Meredith lies on Derek's bed and they talk for a minute, they turn on the television in the room to watch the New Year's eve special on television. Derek seems distracted most of the time, which is making Meredith feel a bit uncomfortable.

"Derek, what's wrong?" Meredith asked, during one of Derek's quiet moments.

"Nothing is wrong, stop asking." Derek said, a little harsher than he had intended.

Meredith sat up and got off the bed, standing next to the bed, she tried to look him in the eyes, but he kept diverting his gaze. "Derek, what's wrong? You won't even look at me. What's on your mind."

"It's nothing, come up here and snuggle with me please." He said sadly, his eyes focused on the television set.

"Derek!" Meredith said, raising her voice and turning the television set off.

"What?" Derek said fiercely turning his attention to Meredith, his eyes darken in anger. "What do you want me to say?"

"Why are you in such a bad mood? What is on your mind, tell me!" Meredith says, feeling helpless.

"Nothing" he says. Seeing that she wasn't going to take that as an answer he continued. "Its just that…. I have heard… it's just that…"

"You've heard what?" Meredith said, starting to get angry at his lack of communication.

"I've heard a rumor, and I don't know what I should think."

"You've heard a rumor? Let's try to be a little more specific."

Before he could stop himself, it was out of his mouth. He wished that he could just have had a heart attack, or lose his voice, or something, just so that those five words could, and would not leave his lips. They tumbled out in anger, doubt and frustration and there was nothing he could do about it.

"Is Katherine really my daughter?"

Meredith stood there in shock. She couldn't believe that he had just asked that question. He didn't ask her questioningly, he asked her angrily, he asked her accusingly. He doubted her intentions and at that moment, it was more than she could handle. Anger overwhelmed her body, her eyes darkened to match his, and her gaze intensified on his face.

"What the HELL would possess you to ask me a question like that?"

"Are you going to answer me?" Derek said defensively.

"WHY would you ASK that question?" she said raising her voice.

"I want to know. IS she really MY daughter. Addison said that when I left…"

It took every fiber of Meredith's being to not run out of that room crying, she actually even started for the door, but something deep in her heart pushed her to finish the argument. "Oh! Addison said! What did ADDISON SAY?"

"Addison said you were sleeping around the whole time I was gone and that she could have been anyone's kid, why would she lie?" Derek said angrily.

Something in Meredith snapped.

"First of all, YOU CAN KEEP ADDISON, SECOND OF ALL, THAT KID, as you call her, has a name. THAT KID is YOUR DAUGHTER…. No, let me correct myself. That kid WAS your daughter, she has always been mine. How dare you doubt me, how DARE you call me a WHORE! I am walking out this door right now, I am taking my daughter and we are going home. Don't call! DON'T WRITE, DON'T BOTHER!" She wrenches the engagement ring off of her finger and throws it at him on the bed. "You can save that for someone you TRUST! I NEVER want to see you again, and you stay away from my daughter, we have done JUST FINE on our own for the past five years, and we'll be JUST FINE without you now!" Meredith screamed and stormed out.

Derek puts his head down on the pillow in disbelief and loneliness and at that moment he hears the cheers of the doctors and nurses in the hallways wishing one another a Happy New year.

--------------------------------

Twenty minutes later, the phone on Derek's bedside table rings. He picks it up in hopes that he will hear Meredith's voice on the other side.

"Derek, what happened?" It was his mother.

"What do you mean, mom?" Derek said sadly.

"Meredith came in, she took Katie right out of a sound sleep and left. She didn't say anything, she wouldn't even look at us, Katie was crying. What happened?" His mother sounded very concerned.

Derek couldn't even answer. He let the phone fall to his side, rolled onto his side, and began to cry.


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12-

7am- Seattle- Meredith's house.

Izzie is in the kitchen when she hears a child screaming outside. She rushes to the front window to see what is going on. She sees Meredith getting out of a cab, trying to pull Katherine out of the backseat. Katherine is kicking and screaming and putting up one hell of a fight. Meredith looks like crap, her makeup is all run, her face looks tired, her clothes are disheveled. She finally gets Katie out of the car and grabs her suitcase out of the trunk. Katie is continuing to scream and cry, and starts to pull on Meredith's hair. Meredith acts like none of it is even happening. 

Izzie opens the front door as Meredith walks up the steps. Meredith walks inside, drops her suitcase and looks at Izzie. "Here, take care of this." She says, handing Katie over to Izzie, who starts to calm upon seeing her Aunt Izzie.

"Mer, do you need to…"

"Not now. Can you watch her for a little while, I want to take a nap. I haven't slept in two days and she's been screaming in my ear for the past 6 hours. And if Derek calls, I never came home."

"Uh, ok." Izzie said, holding Katherine in her arms who has calmed down and is sucking on her thumb with her head over Izzie's shoulder.

With that, Meredith headed upstairs and passed out in her bed.

-------------------------------------

Izzie put Katie down for her nap and went downstairs. The phone rang and she runs for it as to not wake Meredith or Katie.

"Hello?"

"Is she there?"

"Excuse me?"

"Izzie, cut it out. Is Meredith there?" Derek sounded panicked.

"Uh, no, I thought she was with you. What happened?" Izzie said convincingly.

"Nothing. Thanks." He hangs up.

"Hmm…." Izzie says. "I wonder what he did this time." Suddenly, she hears Meredith's bedroom door open, and her running for the bathroom. Izzie runs upstairs to see what's wrong.

Standing outside the bathroom, she can hear Meredith throwing up and crying. "Mer, are you alright? Mer?"

"I'm ok." she says in between sobs. "I think I had some bad plane food." Izzie stands by the door with a towel and waits for her. Meredith opens the door and Izzie hands her a towel. She takes it with a weak smile, wipes her face and heads back towards her room. Izzie follows her and when Meredith lays on the bed, Izzie lays next to her.

"So, do you want to talk about it?" Izzie said, facing Meredith on the bed. "If you're feeling so bad that its making you sick, then you need to get things out in the open. Why was Katie freaking out? What happened in New York?"

Meredith buried her face in her pillow. "I don't wanna talk about it." She moaned.

"Mer, talk to me." Izzie said, pulling her friend into a hug.

"Derek's a jackass" Meredith says.

"Well, I know that much, but you're going to have to give me some examples, so we can figure out to what degree he is a jackass." Izzie said, trying to lighten the mood a little. "He called you know."

Meredith looked at Izzie. "He did? What did he say? What did you say?"

"I told him you weren't here, you were supposed to be there. Hopefully that'll throw him off for a little while." Izzie said with a supportive smile.

"You're a great friend, Iz." Meredith said, "So, you want to know what happened huh?" Izzie nodded.

Meredith told the whole story from when they got to New York up to her plane ride home with Katherine screaming for Derek the whole way.

"That jackass!" Izzie said, definitively.

"I told you." It made Meredith smile a little knowing that Izzie was listening to her.

"What are you going to do?" Izzie asked.

"I'm not sure Izzie, but right now I don't want to have anything to do with him. I don't want him to even go near Katie, I'm just so angry at him. I can't believe that he would act that way."

Suddenly, the phone rings again. Izzie picks up the receiver next to Meredith's bed.

"Hello?"

"No, she isn't here, and she's not coming home." Izzie said into the receiver and promptly hangs it up. "Jackass."

--------------------------------------------

Derek hangs up on his side of the line. He is frantic. He has to find them. She obviously told Izzie about the argument. Where the hell is she?

Derek painfully lifts himself from his bed and moves to the closet. He carefully puts his clothes on, his muscles aching with each movement. He was blind to the pain, he needed to find Meredith. He had make things right. He clumsily limps out of his room, is muscles are still sore from the accident, and hobbles to the nurses station. "Nurse, I need to check out now, I am fine, I have to go."

"Sir, your doctor still hasn't been in to check on you yet, you haven't been released yet." The nurse replied.

"I'm a doctor, I say I'm fine, I am releasing myself." Derek said.

"Derek! I was just coming to visit you!"

Derek spins around at the sound of Addison's voice. Suddenly, his endorphins kick in and he feels no pain as he approaches her. He takes her arm, if a bit harshly and leads her down the hallway. "Derek, what? What do you want?"

He looks her right in the eyes. "You are the biggest Bitch that ever walked on this planet, do you know that?" He growled at her.

"Excuse me?" Addison said, put aback by his comment.

"She left me. You made me paranoid, I confronted her, and she left me!" Derek said. "What in the hell possessed me to listen to YOU! The woman that couldn't even tell me that she was living with the man she had an affair with before she finally realized that she wanted to be with me."

"YOU Addison are the biggest BITCH on the planet, and I am the most gullible sap that ever had the pleasure of walking on this earth. I don't know where she is, I don't know what to say to her when I find her, but I just thought you'd like to know what I think of you. Now get out of my way. I never, EVER want to see your face, your horns, or your pointy tail, EVER again." Derek said, leaving Addison speechless as he walked to the nurses station to get his discharge papers.

------------------------------------------------

January 3rd.

After talking to his family, Derek thought that his best course of action would be to look in Seattle for Meredith. He knew that she didn't have many days off, so she would have to go back to the hospital. He figured it was best not to push things about seeing Katie, he didn't want her to get stuck in the argument that his stupidity had caused, she was already too involved, he didn't want to use her as a pawn, she was just an innocent bystander. Besides, he had other issues that he had to attend to while in Seattle.

Derek entered Seattle Grace Hospital for the first time in five years. It hadn't changed much, some of the people had changed, but it was the same old hallways, same old rooms, and the same old elevators. He smiled thinking of some of the memories he had in this hospital. He quietly made his way up to the surgical floor, he was lucky that there were new rounds of interns since the last time he had been there, someone would have surely recognized him.

"What the hell are you doing here?" a voice came from behind.

"Crap." He winced as he turned around.

"Crap? "Crap? What do you mean 'Crap'? What are you doing here Shepherd?" Burke said angrily.

"Ahh, I see that you heard. How about if I try to make amends right here by telling you that I'm a gullible moron and I'm here to try to find Meredith so that I can at least assess the damage I have done so that I can work on her trusting me again." Derek said.

"Well, I'd have to say that, you are not forgiven, but I would like to agree with the gullible moron comment. Also, if you don't want to be noticed, its best not to be standing here by the surgery board, and I just thought I'd mention, you look like crap."

"Thanks. I'm sure you heard why. I know that this isn't the best place to be covert, I just wanted to find her surgeries." Derek explained.

"Come on down to my office, we'll talk there. I know I'm not a fishing kind of guy, but aren't you supposed to do it from a boat?" Burke said laughing as he led Derek down to his office, while looking around to make sure the hallways were clear from anyone that would recognize Derek."

--------------------------------  
"So Derek, why are you here trying to harass one of my residents?" Burke teased as they close the door to the office.

"I am not here to 'harass' per se, but I need to find out if she's alright." Derek said, with a concerned look on his face.

"Well, she's not 'alright' She came in yesterday and was alright, but she called in sick this morning. She must have been pretty sick, she had Izzie bring Katherine to day care, she must not want her getting whatever she has, probably the flu. She said she might come in this evening is she's feeling up to it."

"Well, I want to talk to her without Katie around. She can get pretty impassioned when she's angry at me."

"Ah, I know what that's like. Well, she's at home as far as I know, good luck." Derek stood up and shook Burke's hand.

"Thanks, Preston."

"No problem Derek. Oh, and Katie is in the hospital daycare if you want to visit her. She misses you."

"Thanks!" Derek said, smiling at the thought of seeing Katie again. Derek turned and walked out of Burke's office, closing it behind him.

Burke picked up the phone and dialed. "Ms. Patterson? This is Assistant Chief of Surgery Preston Burke, a gentleman is coming down to see Katie Shepherd, he has her mother's permission to visit. Thanks."

-----------------------------------------------------  
Derek peeked into the daycare and scanned the room for Katie. She wasn't playing with the other children; instead she was sitting in the corner with a pile of construction paper and crayons. She was wearing a little pink dress and her brown hair was placed in little pigtails on the top, each tied with a little pink bow. She looked so sad sitting all alone her face concentrating on the paper in front of her, it nearly broke Derek's heart.

Derek came into the room quietly, she didn't even look up to see a new person entering. Derek introduced himself to Ms. Patterson and she pointed to where Katie was sitting. He walked slowly over to her and sat in a chair behind her.

He gently started to sing a little song that he had made up to the tune of "twinkle twinkle little star" that would help put her to sleep before they went to New York City. "Katie, Katie, little girl, I sure love my Katie girl."

Her little head whips around and she had the biggest grin on her face. "DADDY!" before he knew it, her arms were wrapped tightly around his neck. "sing the rest daddy?" she asked as she snuggled onto his lap.

"Ok…I think I can do that. Katie, Katie, little girl, I sure love my Katie girl. Eyes of blue and little curls, she's the best thing in the world. Katie, Katie, little girl. I sure love my Katie girl." He sang lightly, tears softly falling from his cheeks.

"I missed you so much daddy! I tried to tell mommy to go back! I tried! I told her we forgot you! You're not mad at me are you daddy?" she pleaded.

"Shh… sweetheart, its alright, daddy was never mad at you!" Derek nuzzled her head with his nose. "How is your mommy doing?"

"Oh daddy! She is so sad! She was sick so I came here with Aunt Izzie. I think she misses you!" Katie went on.

"Listen little Katie bug, daddy is going to go home to give mommy a hug, ok? You be a good girl. Don't tell anyone I visited you, its our secret ok?"

"Ok daddy, ok. I love you."

"I love you too sweetheart, you be a good little girl and daddy will see you soon." Derek bent down and gave her a kiss and started to walk away.

"Daddy!" Katherine called to Derek.

Derek turned around and looked over to her. "Daddy, will you sing to me one more time?"

"Sure will!" Derek said, as he lifted Katie up and brought her over to the nap corner. He placed her down on one of the nap rugs and covered her up with one of the blankets. He lay down next to her and touched her face soothingly as he whispered his song to her until she was fast asleep.


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13-

Derek pulled up to Meredith's house and cautiously walked up to the front door. He peeked in the front window and didn't see any movement. He pulled the spare key that he had out of his pocket and unlocked the door and slipped inside.

The lights were out except for the sunlight coming in through the window, so he figured that she must be upstairs sleeping. He started for the stairs and the phone ring. Not thinking that he wasn't supposed to be there, he answered it.

"Hello?... Shit" He realized what he had done. He held the phone away from his ear and set it on the counter. He could hear Izzie on the other side screaming at him for being in the house, asking for Meredith. Leaving the phone off the hook, he slowly walked up the stairs. He was halfway up when Meredith's bedroom door opened and a sleepy Meredith stepped outside, wiping the sleep from her eyes.

"George, who's on the phone?" she inquired.

Meredith's eyes widened in disbelief when she realized who was on the stairs, she started towards him very quickly, her cheeks flushed and her eyes blazing in anger. Derek turned and quickly ran down the stairs, realizing that the stairs was not really the best place to receive a pummeling. By the time he reached the bottom of the stairs she had already caught up with him. She leapt off the last stair and jumped onto his back. "Who the HELL do you think you are?" she screamed, holding on to him with one hand, while reaching around him and hitting him on the chest with her other fist.

Derek spun her around and flung her onto the couch, hoping to get her to stop punching him, he held her hands against the couch above her head while straddling her body "Meredith! I need you to listen to me! Meredith, calm down." She struggled violently against his hold.

"WHY ARE YOU HERE? GET OUT!" she screamed. "Let me GO!"

"Meredith, I need you to listen, I'll let you go, promise you won't hit me!"

"I promise I won't hit you! Just let me GO! I'm going to throw UP!"

Derek let go of his grasp on her. She promptly kicked him in the stomach, doubling him over and ran upstairs, on her way up she yelled. "I promised I wouldn't HIT you." She ran up and locked herself in the bathroom.

--------------------------------------

Derek recovered on the floor of the living room enough to crawl up the stairs, his muscles still sore from his fall into the icy water. 

"Meredith, that was a cheap shot and you know it!"

"Don't tell me about cheap shots Derek! I have a curling iron in here with your name on it!"

"What are you going to do? Curl me to death?" He asked sarcastically

"No, but if you want a 'Revlon colonoscopy' go ahead and open that bathroom door, I dare you! Now go!"

"No! Not until you hear what I have to say!" he yelled through the door.

"I do NOT want to hear what YOU have to say!" Meredith yelled, turning on the water to the shower, hoping that the warm water would help her feel better, or at least drown out the sound of Derek whimpering at the door.

When her shower was through, she put her bathrobe on and listened quietly at the door. She didn't hear any movement, so she felt that it was a safe bet that he had given up. She quietly unlocked the door and peeked out. He was nowhere in sight. She tiptoed down the hallway and peeked down the stairs. It didn't appear that he was down there. She turned to head back to her room when she noticed that the bedside light was on in Katie's room. She quietly peeked into Katherine's room. Snuggled tightly with Katherine's fuzzy brown dog and her daddy book, Derek lay on Katherine's bed, looking exhausted. This made Meredith's heart melt.

She got an extra blanket and lightly covered him with it, making sure not to wake him. She then made her way to the door, looking back to see him snuggling down in the blanket, she smiled. She headed down the hallway to her room and snuggled into her own bed and quickly fell asleep.

----------------------------------------

Meredith was sound asleep. She didn't hear the door to her bedroom open and she didn't hear his feet moving across the floor. She was so deep in sleep that she didn't even hear him crawl into bed next to her. He gently placed his arms around her and pulled her into his embrace. She stirred and turned her face to his.

"This isn't over." She grumbled.

"I know." He said, and she snuggled deeper into his embrace and they fell asleep together.

--------------------------------------------------

Meredith was startled awake by a crashing sound coming from downstairs. She jumped out of bed and realized that she was in bed alone.

:Crash: She could hear muffled yelling.

"What the hell is going on down there?" She said to herself as she jumps out of bed and listens downstairs.

------------------------------------

"WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE?"

"Izzie, calm down."

"Don't you DARE tell ME to calm down!" Izzie growled.

"Izzie! Its just a misunderstanding! I was just waiting for her to wake up, I just want to talk to her!" Derek explained.

"She doesn't WANT to talk to YOU! GET OUT! GET OUT!"

Meredith stepped to the bottom of the stairs to see what all the noise was about, she was shocked and amused to find Derek whimpering in the corner with his hands over his head defensively while Izzie screamed at him holding a skillet over his head.

"As amusing as this is, and as much as I'd like you to smack him across the head with that skillet, I don't think its going to solve anything. It's alright Izzie, let him get up."

"Are you sure?" Izzie turned her attention to Meredith and Derek sprung up and grabbed the skillet out of her hand.

"Ok, you two! I'm not in the mood for this. Where is Katie?" Meredith asked, rubbing her temples with her fingers.

"She's still at daycare, George is going to bring her home after his shift in a couple of hours. How are you feeling?"

"Like crap. No… I feel like crap's crap. Now I'm hungry." She said, shuffling off to the kitchen, grabbing the skillet out of Derek's hand out as she walked by.

----------------------------------------------

Derek and Izzie follow Meredith into the kitchen, Izzie giving Derek the evil eye as they sit down at the counter. Meredith walks over to stove, looks at the skillet, looks back at the two sitting at the counter, and drops the skillet into the sink, she walks to the cupboard and pulls down a bowl and grabs a box of Muesli out of another cupboard.

She sits down across from Izzie and Derek, ignoring them. They watch her intently, waiting for her to say something.

Derek wanting her to ask Izzie to leave them alone, and Izzie wanting her to tell Derek to leave her alone. She quietly munches her cereal, looking down at the bowl, when she takes a second spoonful into her mouth, Derek reaches out and slides the bowl over to himself, grabs a big spoonful, shoves it into his mouth and slides the bowl back to her.

Meredith looks up at him with a look that was between amusement and annoyance.

"Ha! She looked at me! She wants to talk to me!" Derek said in triumph, his mouth still full of cereal. He looks at Izzie next to him, only to be greeted by an evil look.

"You are such a child. I have some things to do. I'll be back in a little while." Izzie said, heading for the door. Turning back before she got to the door she gave Derek another evil look. "You had better behave yourself, don't make me kick your ass again." Derek proceeded to stick his tongue out at her. Izzie rolled her eyes and huffed out of the room.

"You know, you're a real ass." Meredith said, as she shoved a spoonful of cereal into her mouth.

"Oh yeah?" he said playfully.

"Cut it out, I'm still very angry with you." Meredith said, not looking up from her cereal.

"Will you at least let me explain?" he pleaded with her.

"Whatever." She said as she got up and brought her bowl over to the sink and rinsed it out. He just sat on the stool, in thought, staring at the empty stool that she had been sitting on. She turned to him from the sink. "Well?"

"Well, I'm sorry. I'm sorry I accused you of being something that you're not. I'm sorry that I questioned your intentions. I'm sorry that I questioned you about Katie. I'm sorry that I listened to Addison, I'm sorry that I even talked to Addison. I'm sorry that you had to spend New Years Eve alone. I'm sorry that you fell in love with a big dummy that doesn't know how to keep his emotions in check and is a gullible jerk." He started to cry.

She walked over to him and gave him a hug, trying to stop his tears. "Stop worrying about that, just relax." She said, trying to soothe him. He relaxed a little and she walked over and sat across from him, reaching her hands across the table to hold his. He looked at her sheepishly.

"How are you feeling?" She asked sincerely.

"Sore. Very sore. And very sad." He said sadly. "How are you feeling."

"A little better, I think I have the flu or something. I'm going to go in to work later. George was going to watch Katie tonight. Where are you staying?"

"I really haven't thought that far ahead. Will you please take this back?" He reaches into his pocket holds out the engagement ring, a pleading look on his face.

"No, I'm sorry, I can't accept it." She said sadly as she got up and walked into the living room, leaving him there at the counter, with the ring in his hand, feeling like she had reached into his chest and ripped out his heart.


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14-

Derek follows Meredith into the living room where she has curled herself up onto the couch with her face in her arms. Derek sits beside her.  
"Mer, why won't you take it? Are you still mad at me?" Derek begged.

"I'm a little mad at you, yes." Meredith said, her voice muffled as she spoke into her arms. "Derek, I think we need to take things a little slower."

"Slower? But we already have a daughter, we've already started off fast, I love you, you love me, why can't we just make it official?"

She looked up, placing her feet on the ground, looking at him in the eyes. "Well, for starters. I'm still mad at you! Second of all, we don't even really know each other that well. You were gone for five years, for all you know, I picked up some nasty habits that you would be totally grossed out by." Meredith said, giving him a small smirk. "I just think we should do the 'getting to know you' thing. You know, go out on dates, no sex, more talk, that kind of thing."

"Well, I don't know about that. I don't date women that have children." He said, flashing her a classic McDreamy smile.

"Watch it." Meredith warned him playfully.

"And no sex? That's just ridiculous, I hadn't made love in five years, and now you want to withhold it longer?"

"Hey, I went without sex for five years, and I'm alright with it." She stood up walked over to him. "I'm going to go get ready for work." She straddled him on the couch and gave him a long, passionate kiss, just as he was about to deepen it, she stood up and walked towards the stairs. "Oh. And you can stay here if you want, but you get the couch." She said with a sly grin, disappearing up the steps.

"Meredith!" Derek says in a frustrated tone as he followed her up the steps to the bathroom, she steps inside and turns around. He tries to follow her inside. "You, out!" she says with a smile, poking his chest with her finger and then pointing at the stairs.

"What? I was just going to help!" Derek said, giving a sad face.

"Help me get dressed? I don't think so!" She said as she started to close the door. She heard the downstairs door open and close, George was home with Katie.

"Meredith?" He called from downstairs.

"It's alright George, he can stay. I've already taken care of it!" she called down. She turned back to Derek. "Now you, go. I'll be down in a minute." Derek headed back downstairs, pretending that he was defeated, putting his head down and moping towards the stairs, he looked up at her once, but she just had her finger extended towards the stairs, with a half grin on her face. He laughed as he got to the stairs.

"You'll give in! You can't hold out forever." He laughed again as he went downstairs.

-------------------------------  
Meredith got ready for work, she was feeling a little better than she had earlier in the day, so that made her feel like she could go in. She walked down the stairs and George was watching television eating a sandwich while Derek and Katie were sitting on the ground amid a pile of toys discussing the intricate differences between Malibu Barbie and Malibu Stacy. Katherine had put a tiara on Derek's head and he was explaining to her about how the red pumps would go along with the skirt that Katie was putting on Barbie.

"Well what do we have here?" Meredith said, with a laugh.

"Well, we're having a Barbie discussion, and you aren't allowed in on the fun." Derek said sticking his nose in the air.

Katie giggled and looked up at Meredith. "Daddy says that he's taking us out on a date tomorrow night. He said its where we get dressed up and go have a good time!"

"Ah, he did, did he? Well, mommy has to go to work, Uncle Georgie is gonna keep an eye on you for a few hours and mommy will be back after you're sleeping." Meredith said, bending down to give Katie a kiss on the head.

"Actually, daddy was going to take Katie out tonight, we have a little shopping to do. Uncle Georgie has the night off." Derek said, as Meredith bent down to give him a kiss on the head.

"That sounds good to me!" George says smiling. "Have a good day at work Mer."

"Yep, you guys have a good time, and don't stay up too late!" Meredith said in her 'mother' tone as she walked to the door. "I love you!"

"We love you too!" all three yelled.

----------------------------------

Derek cleaned up the toys and got Katie ready for their trip to the shopping mall. He was a little nervous, this was his first trip out with her unattended. He had no idea of the adventure he was up for. They got to the shopping mall and Derek decided that the stroller would be too much of a bother, so he decided he would either carry Katie, or let her walk alongside him. They walked into the front doors of the mall and as soon as she got through the door, she took off running. Derek chased her down the hallway calling her name and telling her to stop.

"Daddy hurry!" she said, running quickly, finally stopping at one of the little quarter rides that they have in the middle of the mall. Derek caught up to her and she was holding out her hand. "Daddy! Put a quarter in! I want to ride the horsie!" Breathing heavily, Derek rustles in his pocket for a quarter and gently places Katie on the ride. Placing the quarter in, he catches his breath as she rides happily, giggling the whole time.

When the ride is over, Derek picks her up and places her on his shoulders, and off they went, shopping for a pretty dress for their 'date' tomorrow, and maybe a few other little things.

------------------------------

When Derek and Katie arrive home, it is 9 pm and Derek is exhausted. She had taken off four times, ridden on the horsie ride five times, they had gotten a couple of dresses and toys, had a quick dinner and headed home. Katherine however, never seemed to get tired. When they got home, she wanted to play princess and Barbie. Derek, though exhausted, was having more fun than he could ever remember having.

-------------------------------------  
3am-

Meredith walked into the front door quietly. She could see that the television was on, and she wondered if Derek was still awake waiting for her. She turned the corner and her heart melted at the sight before her. 

Derek was lying on his back on the couch, sleeping soundly. His arms wrapped protectively around Katie, who was curled into a little ball against his chest, wearing her princess dress. She had her thumb in her mouth and her little fist was grasping tightly to Derek's t-shirt. They were both sound asleep.

Meredith reached over and turned the television off, grabbing an extra blanket from the end of the couch, she covered the two of them up, giving them each a kiss on the forehead, and she quietly headed upstairs to bed.


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15-

5pm- The next evening.

Meredith is getting ready for their 'date' and Derek hasn't been around all afternoon. Not sure exactly what to wear, Meredith turns to Katie, who is standing in the doorway.

"Where on earth is your daddy?" Meredith asked Katherine, who walks into the bedroom with a bag from the shopping trip the night before.

"He's getting ready for our date!" Katherine smiled widely as she handed the bag to her mother.

"What's this?" Meredith said, looking into the bag.

"That is my dress! Daddy bought it for me!" She says excitedly. She hands Meredith a note that is in her hand. "Daddy said to give this to you." Meredith takes the note from Katie.

-----  
Dearest Ms. Grey and Miss Shepherd,

You are invited to spend a luxurious night out on the town with the one and only Derek Shepherd. If you choose to accept this invitation, please RSVP by being downstairs promptly at 6:30pm. Attire have been approved by the lovely Miss Shepherd and the night will be full of fun and laughter. Ms. Grey, you will find your dress located in the far left side of the closet. Have a good time getting ready!

With all of my love,

Mr. Derek Shepherd.

-----

Meredith rolled her eyes at the note, smiling while she thought about how clever he must have felt writing it.

Meredith pulled the dress from the bag, it is a beautiful hunter green velvet dress with white decorative lace trim, with a white satin bow. He had bought Katherine white shoes and stockings and white lace ribbons for her hair. Meredith walked to her closet and looked on the far left of her closet. She pulled out a hunter green velvet evening gown with a rhinestone trim along the low neckline.

"Wow, does he have good taste." Meredith said, looking down at Katie, who is beaming.

----------------------

6:30pm-

Izzie and George are sitting on the couch together watching television and Katie and Meredith are still upstairs getting ready for their date.

:doorbell rings:

Izzie gets up to get it when all of a sudden she hears Katherine coming flying down the stairs. "Don't answer, don't answer, I'll do it!" Izzie sits down on the couch, watching Katie fix her dress at the bottom of the stairs before she opens the door.

She carefully opens the door and stands there with a big grin on her face; her head tilted slightly, her eyes glimmering. "Hello sir, what can I do for you?" she giggles.

"Well Miss, I'm looking for a Ms. Meredith Grey and a Miss Shepherd, I have a date with them this evening." He says, dressed up in a black Brooks Brothers suit, white shirt and tie, giving her a McDreamy smile.

"Please do come in sir, my name is Katherine Shepherd and I am one of your dates." She says, reaching out her hand, trying to act out the way that she and Derek had practiced the night before.

Derek bent down, taking her little hand in his right hand, he kissed it lightly, still holding his other hand behind his back. As he stood up, he saw movement on the stairs, Meredith walked slowly and elegantly down the stairs, she was wearing the dress that he had bought for her.

He had to catch his breath, she looked so beautiful. She had her hair pinned up with little ringlets hanging down on the side of her face. She was the picture of true beauty. She had a beautiful smile on her face and her eyes sparkled, causing the room to seem a little too warm for Derek.

However, he recovered nicely and held out his hand to her. "Well, you must be Ms. Grey." He said elegantly as he reached his hand out for hers and kissed it lightly, his eyes coming up to settle on hers. She sighed happily, having her turn to catch her breath.

"I must say, you two look exceptionally lovely this evening." He spoke, reaching his left hand out to reveal two bouquets of flowers. He handed Half dozen red roses to Meredith and a small bouquet of daisies for Katherine.

"Thank you, kind sir" Katherine said slowly taking the flowers, with a little smile, she looked up at Derek for approval, he winked at her, giving her cause to grin broadly.

"You may call me Daddy, young lady." He smiled as he touched his finger to her nose, making her giggle.

"Well, shall we go?" Derek says, turning around, making a loop with one arm for Meredith's arm and holding out his pinky finger for Katherine to hold on to. He turned his head to look at Izzie and George, who are sitting on the couch, speechless from the display in front of them.

"Don't wait up!" he says, as he leads the two ladies out to the car.

----------------------------------------------

Derek leads the girls to the car and he kindly opens the door for Meredith, ushering her in with a slight bow and closing the door behind her. He carefully lifts Katie into her car seat and buckles her in. "Is that comfortable for you, Miss?"

"Yes, daddy, it is, thank you." She says, leaning in to give him a kiss on his nose as he finishes buckling her in.

Derek gets into the driver's seat and they are off to dinner.

"Where are we going?" Meredith inquires shyly. His romantic behavior flustering her and her cheeks are blushed with nervousness.

"Well Ms. Grey, we will be attending a dinner at a fine Italian restaurant, and afterwards there will be enough time for some activities that you will most certainly enjoy." He flashes her a McDreamy smile and winks at Katherine in the rear view mirror, who giggles happily in the back seat.

They pull their car up to a restaurant that Meredith had always dreamed of going to, but never had found anyone special to take her there. She gasps as the valet surprises her and opens the passenger side door and Derek rushes around the car to take her hand and help her from her seat. Derek then opens the back door and helps Katherine out of her seat. He holds out his arm and his finger to his girls and they enter the restaurant.

"Three, for Shepherd" Derek says to the host, who leads them to a far corner of the restaurant. The table is cozy and perfect with candles on the table and it is situated right next to a small fireplace on one side and a large picture window that had a perfect view of the water. It being nighttime, there were not many boats, but the stars twinkled brightly outside, giving the scene a sense of complete perfection.

"Derek, this isn't exactly the best restaurant for a three-year old." Meredith says, as he pulls out her chair for her, concerned that there will be nothing on the menu for Katie.

"Don't worry Ms. Grey, I have everything worked out." He again just smiles at her as he looks over the wine list and menu.

The waiter comes over and asks for their order, Meredith goes first and orders hers and Derek orders his. "And for the young lady?"

"Yes, the young lady will have a dish of your finest grilled cheese." Derek said with a serious face.

Without missing a beat, the waiter replies. "And Miss, how would you like that cooked?"

"Um, with a bowl of tomato soup on the side, please!" Katherine replied happily as she handed the waiter her menu.

"Very well. Will that be all?"

"Meredith, would you like a bottle of wine?" Derek asked, her heart fluttering at his use of her first name.

"Uh, no thank you, I'll just have a glass of iced tea, please." She said to the waiter, giving Derek a quick glance and a smile.

"Then I guess that will be all." Derek said, smiling at the waiter.

-------------------

While waiting for their dinner, Derek decides to continue his 'routine' since it appears to be having quite an effect on Meredith.

"So, Ms. Grey, what is it you do for a living?" Derek inquired, sending Katie into a case of the giggles every time he says her mother's name that way.

"Mr. Shepherd, if you would be so kind as to call me Meredith, that would be delightful." Meredith says playing along. "Well Mr. Shepherd, I am a surgical resident at Seattle Grace Hospital. I work on many different cases, but my concentration is primarily in neurology. What exactly is it that you do Mr. Shepherd?" 

"Ahem, you may call me Derek, Meredith. Well, I am currently between jobs, though I have been known to moonlight in different jobs. I was once a neurosurgeon."

"Were you?" Meredith feigns surprise.

"Oh yes, I was the best neurosurgeon in the world. Then I got called away to do something much more important."

"What was that?" Meredith says, leaning across the table towards him.

"Well, first I dabbled at being a superhero, but I didn't think that I looked good in tights, so I decided to become an astronaut, but the spacesuit messed up my hair, then I went to being a beekeeper, then realized that I was allergic to bees. So my current job is 'daddy' but I'm looking for something to supplement that." He smiled, his eyes sparkling. Meredith returned his smile, getting lost in his eyes for a moment.

Derek then turns his attention to Katie, who has been very good, sitting and listening to the conversation. "Katherine, what is your current state of employment?"

"Well, daddy, my current state is Washington and I don't have a job yet." She smiled as she put her napkin on her lap. Everyone laughs as their dinner is served and they sit back and enjoy it.

-----------------------------

8:30pm.

After dinner, Derek gets the car from the valet and helps Meredith and Katie into the car. "Where are we going next?" Meredith asked excitedly.

"That, my dear, is a surprise" Derek replied, with a satisfied grin on his face. Meredith knew exactly where they were going once they started down one particular road, but she thought it best to let Derek have his night.

They arrived at the ferry docks and loaded the car onto the ferry. "Where are we headed?" Meredith inquired.

"We are going to find some dessert, my dear. Is there anyone here that likes dessert?" Derek responded.

"I LIKE DESSERT!" was the reply from the back seat.

"Ah, so dinner was for me, and dessert is for the little one?" Meredith smiled.

"No, my dear. Dessert is for everyone." Derek leans over to her with a seductive smile.

"Mr. Shepherd, its getting a little warm in here, why don't we take a walk on the deck." Meredith said, obviously flustered. She opens her door and begins to get out. Derek rushes to the other side of the car.

"Not so fast." He says as he grabs her hand. He reaches into the car and grabs a cashmere shawl from the back seat. "You are coming with me." He helps her from her seat and he gets Katie out of her car seat, wrapping her in an afghan to keep her warm, he holds her and he leads Meredith to the top deck cabin. It is cool outside, so the cabin is the best place to be out of the night wind. There are only a couple of cars on the ferry, so they are the only ones in the cabin.

"Why are we here?" Meredith inquires.

"To sit." was Derek's only response.

"To sit? I don't understand."

"Everywhere we go, there are other people. Everyone, hustling and bustling around us, asking us questions, demanding things from us, wanting us to do things for them. We are at home and Izzie or George are there, you go to work, and people need you. We went to New York, my family was there. We never just sit. Sit in silence and enjoy being together." Derek said softly, holding Katie tightly in his arms.

"So you just want to sit?" Meredith asked, still trying to understand.

"Yes." He said simply.

He pulled one of the benches in the cabin close to the glass windows and he sat down, cradling Katie in his arms. He turned his head and reached out his arm to Meredith who came over and sat next to him on the bench, pulling her shawl tighter around her body. They sat there in silence, listening to the water under the boat, watching the stars as they slowly went past. Silence has the ability to say so much that words cannot express. Meredith looked over at Derek, his eyes were facing straight ahead, his face had softened to a relaxed smile, not playful, just relaxed and soulful. It made her smile to see him so at peace.

Her gaze shifted to Katie, she was sitting on his lap, his arms protectively around her bundled up in the afghan, her little eyelids appeared to be getting heavier, but she seemed to be looking out at the same thing her father was looking at, so relaxed. That profile of father and daughter made her want to cry, she was so happy that they could be together and so close.

Meredith shifted on the bench and moved closer to Derek, she lay her head lightly on his shoulder and look out at the stars, Derek took one arm and placed it protectively around Meredith's shoulders so that they could just 'sit'. 

--------------------------  
9: 30pm

When the ferry gets to port, they worked their way silently down to the car. Katie had fallen asleep, nestled in her father's arms and Meredith was feeling more relaxed than she had in forever. They drove off the ferry to a little diner not far from the docks.

"What's this place?" Meredith asked.

"Nicky's Diner – World's best cheesecake, Can't you read the sign?" Derek asked, laughing.

"Oh, so you want dessert and all of a sudden the manners go out the window?" Meredith said, laughing back.

"Haha. Do you want dessert or not?" Derek said grinning.

"Mmm, I want dessert…" Katie mumbled sleepily from her car seat.

"Well, that settles it, Me and 'Sleepy Pete' back there are going in for some cheesecake, if you want to come, you can follow." Derek laughed getting out of the car to open the door for Meredith and to get Katie.

---------------------------  
10:30pm

After dessert, they rode the hour back to Seattle on the ferry in silence. It was a peaceful silence. Katherine was so exhausted she fell asleep in her car seat before they even boarded the ferry, Derek was daydreaming, with a little glimmer in his eye and a slight smile on his face, and Meredith was falling in love with him all over again.

------------------------

11:30pm

Derek drove them to the house, he opened Meredith's door for her and gently lifted the sleeping Katie from her car seat. He walked them up to the door and Meredith opens the door and walks inside. Derek remains out on the porch. She turns around when she notices he's not following.

"What? Aren't you coming?" Meredith whispers.

"Mer, this is our first date and you're inviting me into your place already? Don't you think you're moving a little too fast?" Derek says with a playful grin.

"Just get inside, you have my daughter." She laughs.

"Our daughter." He corrects her. Giving her a proud smile.

"Yes, now let's get her up to bed." Meredith whispers.

They quietly bring Katie up to her bedroom and change her out of her dress, she is so tired that she doesn't even wake up when they're putting her pajamas on. Derek gently lifts her to her bed and puts her fuzzy dog next to her. He pulls the blanket up onto her shoulders and gives her a kiss on the cheek. She shifts a little in her sleep. "G'night daddy." She whispers.

"Goodnight, little angel. Thanks for all of your help today." He kisses her again on the cheek.

Meredith gives her a kiss on her cheek too and adjusts her blanket a little. She turns to Derek. "Thank you for tonight." she smiles sweetly, warming his heart. And she walks past him. He follows her into the hallway and touches her arm, causing her to turn around slowly to face him. Their eyes meet, their lips inches apart.

"What? No goodnight kiss?" he whispers breathily to her.

She stares into his eyes for what is only a few seconds, but feels like forever. The electricity is so powerful, you can almost see the sparks. She closes her eyes and slowly leans closer to him, to kiss him. He moves his index finger up to her lips, pressing lightly, he puts his lips close to his finger and whispers seductively.

"The night isn't over, my dear." He then quickly turns around and walks towards the stairs.

--------------

Meredith stands there for several seconds with her eyes closed, her expression turning from passionate, to annoyed. She opens her eyes and realizes he is already downstairs, she then feels a little embarrassed. She runs downstairs to find him. He's not in the living room, she goes into the kitchen and he is pouring two glasses of wine. He opens the refrigerator door and pulls out a container of strawberries, turning to see her standing beautifully flustered in the doorway. He smiles his McDreamy smile.

"How about a little television and a snack?" He asks. He walks to her and hands her the glass of wine. He kisses her cheek and grabs the strawberries and his glass of wine and walks into the living room.

"Derek, maybe I should get into something more comfortable?" Meredith said as he passed by.

"Ah, yes. About that." He hands her a note. "Read that when you get upstairs."

"uh, ok." she says smiling.

Meredith sets her glass of wine on the coffee table and walks upstairs.

She sits on the bed and opens the note.

-----  
Ms. Grey,

I see that you have had a lovely evening and want to slip into something a little more comfortable. Well, that too has been provided. In the bottom drawer of your dresser you will find a box. Put the contents on, and then read the note in the box. I know you're enjoying this game, stop rolling your eyes. I look forward to seeing you.

Love Forever,

Mr. Shepherd.

------

Meredith rolls her eyes again and sets the note on her bed. She walks to her dresser and opens the bottom drawer. She takes out the white box that has been delicately placed inside. She carefully opens the lid to find a beautiful red silk nightgown, in the bottom of the box is a carefully folded note with the words 'Don't peek yet!' on the front. She slipped out of her dress and carefully placed it on a hanger. She put the nightgown on and sat back down on the bed. She opened the note.

-----

Ms. Grey,

I see that you have finally gotten into something more comfortable. Now why don't you come downstairs so that I can finally get that goodnight kiss.

Love Always,

Mr. Shepherd.

-------  
Meredith giggled a little as she got up from the bed. She placed the notes in the box and placed the box on her dresser. She walked to the door, with a beautiful smile on her face. She opened the door and was startled.

Derek was leaning seductively against the door.

"Oh! You scared me!" she jumped back.

Derek didn't say anything, he carefully lifted the tray with the strawberries and the wine and he brought them into the room, setting them on the bedside table. He turned and locked the door.

He carefully took his suit jacket off, followed by his tie, setting them down on the chair. He unbuttoned the first two buttons of his shirt and walked over to Meredith. He placed his arms around her back and gently pulled her against his body. He bent his head down to her face looking up at him.

"How about that goodnight kiss?" He breathed heavily, looking deep into her eyes. She waited for him to close his eyes and come down to her, and then she closed hers and leaned into him for a deep passionate kiss. She could feel her knees buckle underneath her. He gently caught her and lifted her to the bed, breaking the kiss for only a second.

They made love, sharing with one another ,themselves, their love, and the passion that had been building inside of them for weeks. As they lay there, spent, exhausted and totally filled with one another's love, Meredith turns to Derek who is lying on his back, with his hands behind his head. She places her head on his chest, nuzzling her face into him while embracing him tightly. He places his arm down around her shoulder. She looks up at him, her hair gloriously messy, and whispers.

"Mr. Shepherd?"

"Yes." Derek says, breathless, looking down at her.

"Will you marry me?" she says, innocently.

He lies his head back down on the pillow for a second and lets out a short laugh. "I thought you'd never ask." He says as she buries her face further into him and they fall asleep entwined in one another.

--------------------


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16-

(Couple weeks later)

January 24 -

Derek wakes up in bed alone, he listens for any movement downstairs or out in the hallway and hears nothing. He suddenly hears the toilet flush from the bathroom attached to Meredith's room. He hears the doorknob turning and closes his eyes to pretend that he's sleeping. Meredith pads over to the bed and crawls back under the covers. She can tell that he's pretending to sleep, but she cuddles up to him anyway.

"Derek. I'm sick again."

He rolls over to face her. His brow furrows in concern. "I'm sorry, baby." He says as he pulls her close. "Its probably that nasty Chinese food that I made you eat last night."

"Derek, yesterday you said it was the nasty Mexican food we had the night before, and the day before that you said it was the nasty casserole that I made you eat, I'm worried that its something else. Maybe um… Maybe I have a bug."

Derek sat up quickly on his elbow, he studied Meredith's face, his eyes moving down her body, stopping at her abdomen and moving back up to her face. She looked at him with a very concerned face. A look of realization came over Derek's face.

"Ahh, so that's how she got the nickname!" He laughed and put his head back down on the pillow.

"Derek, I'm serious, maybe I should get an appointment." She said concerned.

"Ok, you make the appointment and we'll go, just remember, Katie's birthday party is coming up five days. I don't want you too stressed out about that. Izzie, George and I are going to take care of it." Derek assured her. "I love you."

----------------------

January 29th – 8:00am.

Meredith rolled over in bed. "Derek?" No answer.

There was no one in the house.

Why was there no one in the house? Derek was supposed to be getting things ready for the party with Izzie and George. "DEREK?" still no answer… must not be here. "Hmm…"

Suddenly Derek appears in the doorway. "What do you need?" he asks, breathless from running up the stairs.

"Where were you? Are you getting ready for the party?" Meredith said, crawling out of bed, afraid of getting sick again.

"Uh, yeah, getting ready for the party." Derek smiled.

"What are you up to, and where is my daughter on her birthday?" Meredith asked suspiciously.

"She's with Burke and Cristina, they're picking out balloons and uh… other stuff." He smiled again slyly. "You just rest, you don't have to get up for a couple more hours."

"You're up to something Derek Shepherd, and I don't know if I like it." She smiled as she lay her head back down on her pillow. He reached over and covered her up again with the blanket.

"Just trust me." He smiled, dropping a kiss on her forehead and leaving the room, closing the door behind him, leaving her to only imagine what he could be scheming.

----------------------

January 29th- 10:00am

"Mama!" Katie exclaimed as she jumped onto Meredith's bed. She is dressed in an indigo blue dress with white satin ribbons in her hair. The color of the dress bringing out the bright blue in her eyes, and her hair was put up with extra care, her little brown curls bouncing as she bounced on the bed.

"Well hello there birthday girl!" Meredith says, sitting up on her pillow. You certainly look pretty! Who dressed you all up so pretty today?"

"My daddy! He bought me this new birthday dress, he said that it is his favorite color. And he put my hair up and everything! My party is almost ready, are you coming?"

"Yes, mommy's coming. How can your party be almost ready? I haven't heard anything going on downstairs, where have you been all day?"

"It's a surprise! Come on mommy, you get dressed and we'll go to my party." Katherine says, trying to pull her mother out of bed.

"I'm coming, I'm coming…" Meredith said, carefully getting out of the bed.

----------------------

10:45 am

Meredith showered and got dressed for the party. She walked out of her bedroom and the house was dead silent. "How are we going to have a party if no one is getting anything ready?" she said out loud as she left the room and headed downstairs. She looked around and no one was in sight, she peeked out the front window and Derek was loading wrapped gifts into the back of the car and Katie was already in her car seat, singing along to the car radio. "What on earth is he doing?" she said to herself as she put her coat on and grabbed her purse and keys. She opened the door and walked out.

"What on earth are you doing?" she called.

Derek looked around the trunk of the car and seeing her standing there he smiled brightly. "We're getting ready to go to the party. You ready to go?" He called, closing the trunk of the car.

"Uh, yeah, I guess. Where are we going?" she asked as she closed and locked the door and headed towards the car.

"We are going to the party!" he said, getting into the driver side. He laughs as she gets into the passenger side cautiously. "Let's go!" he and Katie exclaim in unison.

----------------------

Derek takes a turn onto a familiar gravel road. Meredith looks at him curiously. "Why are we coming down here?" she asks.

"This is where the party is!" he exclaims excitedly. The trees along the road are decorated with dark blue and pink balloons and as they near closer to their destination, there are more and more cars along the side of the road. They just get to the clearing where the trailer used to be and Meredith sees a huge event tent set up, with people milling about. Balloons and streamers decorate the trees and the tent, a huge banner hangs on the tent reading 'Happy Birthday Katie' There were children everywhere, running and scrambling about, there had to be about a hundred people scrambling and having a good time. Derek parked the car at the end of the road and Meredith got out of the car looking around for an explanation to this huge party. Derek helped Katie out of her car seat and Katie ran to her mother's side grabbing her hand as Derek began to unload the presents from the trunk.

"Come on Mommy! Let's go join the party!"

As Katie pulled Meredith towards the tent, she was greeted by Izzie and George, George placed a 'Happy Birthday' tiara on Katherine's head, who promptly took off running into the crowd. "Great surprise huh?" Izzie asked, beaming. 

"Wow." Was all that Meredith could say. She saw a lot of people from the hospital, and suddenly she was tapped on the shoulder by someone from behind. She turned around and was immediately greeted with a hug.

"Meredith! I'm so glad to see you again! Derek told me everything, I'm so glad everything is back to normal! He sure can be a pain sometimes." It was Derek's mother. She was then immediately greeted by each of Derek's sisters who each had a hug for her.

"What are you guys doing here?" Meredith asked surprised.

"We couldn't miss Katie's birthday party!" Emma exclaimed. "You have to see the gift table! Mary and the kids helped decorate it!"

"Sure!" Meredith said as she was whisked away to the gift table.

The day was filled with games and fun for everyone, there was a three legged race, which Katie raced with George, Derek and his nephew Ian had won, holding up their little trophy in victory. They played 'pin the tails on the donkey', Bailey was painting the kids faces, while Burke showed off his talent with making balloon animals. Meredith's mother was brought to the party by a couple of nurses at the home, she was feeling good that day and they felt that it would be beneficial for her to get out with people. Derek's brother in laws watched the kids to make sure that they didn't go near the water and Meredith visited with everyone and was having a great time, when Derek made the announcement that gifts were going to be opened.

Katherine made her way to the gift table where everyone gathered around while she sat in the 'throne' that had been made up for her. She gleefully opened each gift and thanked each person with a hug, Izzie making sure that she wrote down what each person got her so that they could send out thank you notes. After the presents were opened, Derek told everyone that he had another announcement to make before the cake was cut. Everyone gathered around once more and quieted down as he called Meredith to stand with him. He placed his arm around her shoulder and gave her a little squeeze.

"Ok everyone! First, I want to thank everyone for coming out to Katie's party! I have been having a great time and I hope that you have been having a good time too! I know you're all thinking that this is a pretty big party for a little girl who turned four, but it's not just a celebration of that. This is a celebration of all of her birthdays until today. You see, I have to make up for those first three birthday parties!" Everyone laughs.

"Also, this is a celebration for another surprise. I just want you all to know, because you are our closest friends, and our family. That the family is going to be getting even bigger! Meredith found out yesterday, that there will be another Shepherd to join the clan, and from now on, not one birthday will ever be missed again! Now let's cut that cake!" Everyone cheered and began to talk excitedly as Meredith and Derek stepped back into the crowd. George began cutting the cake and handing out pieces and everyone began to congratulate Meredith and Derek.

Burke finds Derek and quietly pulls him aside outside the tent. "Hey Derek, Congratulations!" Burke says, shaking Derek's hand and smiling. "I needed to ask you a favor."

"What is it?" Derek asks, still beaming from his news.

"I should be asking you this in my office, but I can't resist. Our head of neurology is leaving for another job, we're going to need a replacement soon, and I wouldn't be a good friend if I didn't ask you first. You are 'the best neurostergeon in the world' as Katie-bug would put it."

Derek laughs. "I'll have to think about it. Talk it over with Meredith, I'll try to get back to you on that soon." Derek smiled, patting Burke on the back. "Now let's get some of that birthday cake before it's all gone!" Derek said laughing.

----------------------

10:30 pm

After the last guest is gone and everything is cleaned up, Derek and Meredith sit under the tent on a bench, holding one another. Exhausted from their busy day, Katie was brought home by Izzie to get ready for bed, and Derek and Meredith are finally alone, just sitting and enjoying quiet time together, illuminated by the dim lights along the perimeter of the tent.

"Hey." Meredith says, cuddling into Derek's arm.

"Hey." He says back, nuzzling her hair.

"That was quite a party." Meredith says, looking up at him with a smile.

"That WAS quite a party. You must be exhausted." Derek says into her hair.

"Mmhmm…" she says, closing her eyes, burying her head deeper into his arms. "What are we doing tomorrow?"

"Well, my sister's and mom are in town for a couple of more days, I was thinking of taking Katie with them all to go sight seeing. You can come too if you're not too tired."

"Maybe." She smiles.

"Mer, do you still like surprises?" Derek asked lightly.

"It depends," she said sitting up. "What kind of surprises."

"Well, I have a present for you. I know its Katie's birthday, but I thought I'd get you a present, since its technically 'your' birthday too." He said, pulling a long tubular wrapped gift.

"That is very sweet of you." She said, taking the gift and bringing it over to the table. She unwraps it and pulls out several large rolled up papers. "What is this?"

"Blueprints, for our house."

"Our house?" She inquired, a curious grin playing at the corners of her mouth.

"Yes, the house that I am having built, right here on this piece of land. This way, we can build to suit our growing family and we don't have to throw George and Izzie out to the curb, they can stay in your mother's house." Derek smiled.

"It's beautiful." She says, running her fingers lightly over the drawings. "Did you design this?" she said, looking up at him.

"Sure did, I have an architect friend up in New York. I sent him a letter about a year ago specifying what my exact needs were going to be." He smiled proudly, looking down at the plans.

"You knew for a year that you were going to build us a house?" Meredith asked.

"I've known for five years that I was going to build us a house, I just had to get the nerve up to ask. Do you accept the gift?"

"Of course I accept the gift!" She says reaching up for a kiss. They roll their blueprints back up and head to the car to go home.


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17-

March 25

"Aww, mom, do I have to go?" Derek whines to Meredith with a hint of a smile as she gently fixes his collar. Katie, who is sitting at the counter, starts to giggle at her father's outburst.

"Yes dear, you have to go to work." Meredith smiles, turning him around and fixing the back of his collar. "All ready, Now go." She said, smacking his butt, making him jump, again giving Katie a reason to giggle. "Ok kids, let's go." Meredith smiles as she ushers Derek and Katie out to the car.

"Wow, my first day back to work! It feels like my first day of school! I hope someone doesn't steal my lunch money." Derek says, now driving.

"No, but I may just steal your lunch." Meredith smiles. "I'm hungry"

"You're always hungry. Did you bring your water bottle? Did you take your vitamins this morning? What did you have for breakfast?"

"Yes I brought my water bottle, and I took my vitamins. Stop being so bossy. I've done this before you know."

"I just want to make sure that you're comfortable, and that the baby is comfortable, and that everything is alright. Everything is alright, right?" Derek asks, looking over to her as he parks the car.

"Yes, everything is alright." Meredith responds getting out of the car, opening the door and helping Katie out of her car seat. Derek runs to the other side of the car.

"I can take her!" He goes grabbing for Katie, Meredith turns her back to him, holding Katie in her arms.

"I can handle it, geez." Meredith responds, walking towards the hospital. "Now stop lollygagging and go find Burke. Your first day of work and you're going to be late. I'll go bring Katie to daycare."

----------------------

Lunch-

Derek is sitting at a table getting ready to eat lunch, the cafeteria is pretty empty, except for the occasional doctor milling about. He's just about to take a bite of his sandwich when a hand reaches out from behind him to grab the sandwich. He grabs the hand when its inches from it.

"Nice try." He says, grinning, giving the hand a kiss. "Sit down and have lunch with me."

Meredith sits next to him and reaches across to give him a kiss. "How is your first day back?"

"It is very busy! But I'm enjoying every minute of it. It's a little different for me being in this type of environment after such a long time out on the road. I'm just glad I get to see you during the day." He said, smiling.

"Hey, lovebirds, is this seat taken?" Cristina asks, sitting down.

"Nope. Ahh… I got to go." Derek says as his pager goes off. "I'll see you guys later. Love you."

"Love you." Meredith and Cristina say in unison. He gives them a sarcastic grin and runs off to answer his page.

"So, what are you doing tonight?" Cristina asks, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"Um, sitting at home and putting my feet up, eating some pickles and chocolate ice cream."

"Together? That is gross!" Cristina says, throwing the rest of her sandwich on the tray. "I remember this phase, you made 'me' have morning sickness with some of your food habits!" she laughs.

"Haha, well now I have Derek to go out at 2:30am to get me a corned beef sub with extra mayo." She laughed. "What are you going to do tonight?"

"Nothing, Burke doesn't have it off, so I was going to go shopping for some wedding things. Nothing too froufrou. You want go with me, we can invite Izzie, Girls night out? Maybe we can pick out the bridesmaid dresses!"

"You realize that I'm going to be as big as a cow in August." Meredith replied.

"So? You already promised you'd be in the wedding, you can't back out now! We'll get you something in a nice spandex" Both girls laugh.

"Fine, fine, I'll have Derek watch Katie and the three of us will go out dress shopping."

"GREAT! We can all leave after our shift!" Cristina says, patting Meredith on the back as she gets up.

----------------------

7pm – Dress Shop.

"Ok guys, I'm going to come out now, don't laugh." Meredith says from inside the dressing room.

"We won't" Izzie and Cristina say together, smiling evilly at one another.

Meredith walks out of the dressing room in a canary yellow bridesmaid dress, with a giant orange bow tied around her waist and a giant yellow floppy hat. She begins to model it and walk around in circles with a big grin on her face. Immediately, Cristina and Izzie begin laughing hysterically.

"Hey, you guys said you wouldn't laugh!" Meredith laughs, smacking both of them in the head with the floppy hat. "Ok Izzie, its your turn, what color dress do you want to try out?"

"How about hot pink!" Izzie squeals.

Cristina puts her hand on her head. "My wedding is going to look like a clown parade!"

"Come on Cristina, we're just trying on different dresses, we'll find the right ones!" Meredith laughs. "Besides, whatever dress I get, it's going to have to be 'biggie sized' so that I can get it fitted a week before the wedding, because by then 'Bubbles' is going to be really showing."

"Bubbles?" Izzie laughs.

"Yeah, that's what Katie calls the baby. She says my bump looks like a bubble, and Derek told her that when the baby is born, all its going to do is blow bubbles from its mouth and bubbles out its butt." The imagery makes the girls laugh.

The girls decide to continue their search for the perfect bridesmaid dresses.


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18-

May 25-

Meredith is lying on her bed on her side, resting her swollen ankles after her doctor's appointment. Katie comes home from daycare with Izzie and runs up to her mother's room.

"Mama!" she says, running full speed into the room. "Can I give Bubbles a kiss?" she says affectionately as she climbs onto the bed next to Meredith.

"Sure can." She says, pulling her shirt back from her belly. Katie leans down and gives Meredith's belly a kiss.

"I love you Bubbles!" she exclaims, putting her ear up against Meredith's belly. She sits there quietly for several minutes. "Mama, Bubbles moved again." She smiles brightly at her mother.

"Bubbles is a wiggler, just like you were, my silly little girl." Meredith says, pulling Katie into her arms.

"Hey there my little girls, and my little Bubbles. What are you guys up to?" Derek asks, walking into the room, holding a folder in his hand.

"We're talking to Bubbles daddy. Mommy says that Bubbles is a wiggler like I was!" she giggles.

"Mommy and I have a surprise for you. Do you want to know if Bubbles is a boy or a girl?"

"Yes!" Katie shouted excitedly.

Derek sits on the edge of the bed and Katie moves closer to him and sits next to him. He carefully opens the folder, which contains the sonogram picture, he puts Katie into his lap and he points out the picture. "You see that right there?" He says pointing at the sonogram. Katie nods, her little curls bouncing. "That right there is your little brother."

"Brother? Bubbles is a boy!" She squeals in excitement. "I can't wait to tell Aunt Crissy and Uncle Doc!" Katie beams. Derek smiles and looks over at Meredith, who is also smiling.

"Yep, a little brother! Now let's go do some shopping for Bubbles and we'll let mommy sleep for a little while. Does that sound good?"

"Yep!" Katie exclaims, crawling over to Meredith. "Love you mama!" she says, dropping a kiss on Meredith's cheek. "Love you baby boy bubbles!" she says as she gives Meredith's belly a kiss and gleefully runs to her bedroom to get ready for shopping.

----------------------

That evening, Meredith is sitting downstairs on the couch with George, watching television and eating her 'after dinner, but before bedtime snack, snack'. The front door opens and Katie comes running up to her mother's side, her smile bright and happy. "Mama! We have a surprise!" She exclaims.

"Oh yeah? What kind of surprise do you have?" Meredith said, sounding interested, but very tired. She struggles to stand up and she walks with Katie to the front door. In walks Derek, holding a pet carrier and a bag of dog food. He is smiling as he comes in the house.

"Look who we found!" Derek says, holding up the carrier, which contained a little black lab puppy, obviously scared out of his mind.

Meredith plasters on a fake smile. She is speechless. She just stands there looking at Derek, her smile says she loves him, but her eyes say she's going to kill him. He doesn't miss the look.

"Katie, why don't you talk with Uncle Georgie about your new friend" She says, looking at George, who also sees the look and understands. "Mommy and Daddy are going to have a little talk in the kitchen." She turns and heads towards the kitchen, Derek places the carrier down and follows her. He looks back at George and mouths the word 'help'. George just shrugs and looks away, a smile playing on his face, turning his attention to Katie.

----------------------

Derek slowly walked into the kitchen and Meredith is standing against the sink. Staring out the window above the sink, she continues to fume.

Derek steps forward to her, he puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't touch me right now." She growls through gritted teeth as she moves further away from him.

"What's wrong?" he responds innocently.

"WHAT'S WRONG? You have the NERVE to ask me what is wrong?" she approaches him, her finger poking him in the chest.

"No, really. What's wrong?" He asks again.

"I am really going to kill you, do you know that? I am seriously going to kill you. Let me see, what is wrong. Hmm, let me see. Well, you and I work. We work a LOT. We have a little girl that enjoys attention, and I am here, carrying around your OTHER child, working and living and trying to do seven million things at once. I am EXHAUSTED, I don't even have time to sit and relax. YOU come home and decide that it would be a GREAT idea to go out and get a DOG? SERIOUSLY! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?"

Derek starts to speak.

"NO! I'm not done yet! We live here in this house, we share it with Izzie and George. We can't ASK them to help watch a DOG, its not their RESPONSIBILITY! They have jobs, they shouldn't be looking after our DAUGHTER OR OUR DOG, and ….." she trails off into a fit of tears, and runs from the room.

Derek follows her into the living room, but she is already heading up the stairs. Katie is sitting on the couch next to George, her head buried in his side, her arms around him as if for protection. George looks up at Derek and shrugs his shoulder. They both shudder as they hear the bedroom door slam.

"Katie honey, are you alright?" Derek asks, kneeling next to the couch, reaching out for her.

"Don't touch me, daddy!" she says, raising her head up from George's body, her face tear streaked and red. "I'm mad at you! You made mommy yell, and then you made her cry!" she says as she buries her head back into George's side.

Derek turned around and put his back against the couch. He put his head in his hands and sighs. "This is going to be the longest three months in my life." He whispers to himself.

----------------------

:knock knock:

"Go away!" Meredith yells from her bed.

:knock knock:

Meredith doesn't answer.

:knock knock knock:

Meredith rolls off the bed and walks to the door. She swings the door open. "I SAID GO …." When she swings the door open, Derek is on the other side, holding the puppy up in front of his face, its little pink tongue hanging out of its mouth. "Aww, you're so cute!" She says, taking the puppy from Derek. Just as he is about to step into the room, she puts her hand on his chest and pushes him out, and slams the door in his face. She holds the puppy up and smiles. "Well aren't you just the cutest thing in the world?"

----------------------

June 25-

Derek and Meredith are sitting on the bench at the park, Derek is reading, while Meredith is watching Katie play at the playground.

"Do you have any ideas for names?" Meredith asks Derek, as he reads a book.

"How about Norman?"

"Norman? You can't be serious!" Meredith says.

"How about Melvin?" He asks, smiling.

"Melvin? You want to name our child Melvin?"

"What? It's a family name!" Derek says, putting the book down.

"Marvin is a family name?" Meredith asks incredulously

"It could be a family name! If you'd let us name our son Melvin!" Derek laughs.

"You think you're so funny, you're not funny. Besides, you got to name the dog, I'll name our son."

"You got to name our daughter!" Derek counters.

"Then it's my turn." Meredith says, she stands up and sticks her tongue out at him and walks to the playground to get Katie.

----------------------

July 25-

"I feel like a whale."

"Shut up, its my day." Cristina says.

"But I feel like a whale." Meredith moans.

"Meredith, I'm serious. Shut up."

"You're mean. Are we there yet?"

"Yeah, here it is." Cristina says as they pull into the parking lot of the event hall.

"I feel like a whale." Meredith mumbles.

"Shut up! This is my bridal shower! Yes, you are a whale, deal with it, now let's get in there. You're so lucky that Izzie agreed to get the shower ready! The maid of honor is supposed to do it, you're the maid of honor and I swear that you got pregnant on purpose, just so I wouldn't make you throw me the shower. I don't even want a bridal shower. My MOTHER made me have a bridal shower, now get your big fat whale ass in there, and let's have fun."

"I have to pee."


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19-

August 29-

The day is finally here, it's Cristina and Burke's wedding day. The ceremony is going to take place in a garden that is attached to a bed and breakfast that they went to on their first mini-vacation. All of Cristina and Burke's friends are there, along with their family members. Meredith is the maid of honor, with Derek standing as Burke's best man. Izzie, George, Alex, Burke's two brothers and two of Cristina's friends from college are part of the wedding party, with Bailey's son William as ring bearer, and Katie-bug as the flower girl. It is a fairly large wedding of about 150 people.

The ceremony begins and priest and Burke wait at the small makeshift altar prepared in the garden. Derek and Meredith enter arm in arm, and when they reach the altar, Derek stands to Burke's side and Meredith stands to the other side, followed by Izzie and George and the rest of the ushers and bridesmaids. When they are situated, the ring bearer enters, followed by Katie, dressed in her pretty pink dress, she skips down the aisle dropping flower petals. William stands in front of Derek and Katie stands in front of Meredith. The processional music begins and Cristina enters with her step-father and walks up the aisle slowly.

The ceremony goes well, Derek notices that Meredith looks very uncomfortable in her blue dress, she is fidgeting and trying not to shift around. He gives her a concerned glance from across the aisle, she just smiles slightly, to assure him that she's alright.

"And if anyone in this room has any reason that these two should not be wed, please speak now, or forever hold your peace." The priest says, pausing.

"Crap." Meredith mumbles, a little louder than she had intended. Cristina turns to her and gives her a 'death glare'. Meredith stands there with a shocked look on her face. "Uh, keep going, um. I have to go." Meredith says, handing the bouquets that she is holding to Izzie, she rushes down the aisle, Katie in tow, all eyes on her.

Derek turns to Burke. "Uh. I'll be back." He says as he rushes down the aisle after Meredith, everyone staring.

"Crap." Izzie whispers. Cristina looks at Izzie, who glances down to where Meredith was standing. On the ground is a puddle of water.

"Crap." Cristina says. Turning to the priest she says "Ok, let's finish this."

----------------------

"Meredith!" Derek whispers loudly as he moves from room to room in the bed and breakfast. "Meredith!" Derek listens, he can't seem to figure out which way she went, or why she ran off.

"Mama, why did we go? The wedding wasn't done yet. Mama, whatchu doin? Mama? I look so pretty today didn't I? " He hears Katie going on and on.

"Thank goodness for little girls." Derek whispers to himself as he walks into the bathroom.

"Daddy!" Katie exclaims, Meredith is standing over the sink, obviously in pain. Derek rushes to her side.

"Meredith, are you alright?" Derek says, taking her arm, trying to get her to look at him.

She yanks her arm from him and looks at him, she is obviously in the middle of a contraction. "NO! Get someone to watch her! It's time to go to the hospital!" Meredith growls at him, sliding down the wall to sit on the floor.

"Mer, the baby can't come now, its too early, he's not due for another couple of weeks." Derek begins to panic as he kneels next to her.

"Fine Derek, that's a great idea! You tell this 7 pound watermelon that I'm carrying around that maybe he should crawl back up there and just take it easy for a couple of weeks, that is a great idea. I think I'm ready to go back to the wedding now." Meredith says sarcastically.

Suddenly the door to the bathroom flies open, Izzie comes inside. "Meredith are you alright?" she asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Peachy. Why do you people keep asking me?" Meredith says, as she proceeds to sweat profusely while looking up at Izzie.

Derek stands up and whispers. "Izzie, I'm going to call an ambulance, could you please do us a big favor and make sure Katie does not see it bringing Meredith away? I will call you guys as soon as I know what is going on."

"Sure." Izzie replies. "Hey Katie, why don't we go see Aunt Crissy and Uncle Doc, we can tell them congratulations."

"Um… But mommy has an owie." Katie says, concerned.

Derek bends down to her. "Its alright little Katie-bug, don't you worry about mommy. Daddy's going to take good care of her. Do you trust me?"

"Yes. I love you daddy. I love you mommy. Bye." Katie says waving as Izzie picks her up and carries her out of the bathroom.

----------------------

The ambulance arrives just as another wave of contractions hit Meredith, she tries in vain to hold her composure as she is wheeled through the crowd of curious wedding guests and well wishers. Flanked by Derek on one side of the stretcher and Cristina on the other, Meredith is brought to the ambulance

"You know Meredith; you can't always keep trying to get the attention. First you get pregnant so you can't help out with the wedding preparation and now you go into labor so that you don't have to eat the food at the reception. Don't you think that you went a little far." Cristina lectures.

Meredith laughs a little as she is loaded into the ambulance. "Sorry about that, I swear, it is just a coincidence."

"Hey, you have that baby and we'll be at that hospital as soon as the reception is over ok?" Cristina smiles, holding Meredith's hand for a moment, and stepping out of the ambulance.

"Don't worry Cristina, she'll be fine. We'll make sure we call you." Derek says as he climbs up into the ambulance to tend to Meredith, unfortunately speaking just as another contraction hits.

All Cristina can hear as the door closes on the ambulance is.

"Shut up! You're the one that did this to me, just shut up!"

"That's my girl." Cristina laughs as she turns around and heads back to the wedding.


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20-

5:30 pm

Jackson Grey Shepherd was born at 4:30 that afternoon, a 5 lb 6oz screaming baby boy. Meredith lay in her hospital bed after the birth, exhausted and spent. She was able to hold him for a moment before they took him away to be bathed. Derek didn't stop grinning the whole time, even when Meredith repeatedly told him. "Wipe that stupid smirk off your face and get this baby out of me!" He helped with the delivery and cut the cord.

Derek is sitting next to Meredith's bed while she sleeps, holding her hand. He hears Meredith's phone ring in her purse. He grabs it and picks it up quickly.

"Hello. Meredith Grey's phone." He pauses, listening to the person on the other line. "Uh, she's kind of indisposed at the moment, I can give her a message." He pauses, listening again. "Alright, I'll be right there." Derek says. He hangs up the phone, "Shit." He reaches out and gives Meredith's hand a quick squeeze and runs out of the room.

--------------------------

At 6:00 Meredith wakes up suddenly from a bad dream. She looks around the room and she is all alone. She sadly lays her head down on the pillow, and remembers why she is there, a smile creeps across her face as she thinks of holding her little boy in her arms. The door to her room slowly opens and Izzie peeks in. "Hey, you're awake."

"Yeah, I'm awake. Is Derek out there?" Meredith asks.

"Nope, I don't see him. He called right after the baby was born, but I don't see him out here. There are a bunch of people out here waiting to see you, do you mind if we come in?"

"I don't mind. They're going to be coming down here with the baby shortly for a feeding, but you guys can come visit me for a little while, I'm kind of lonely in here." Meredith says, giving a sad face.

Izzie and Katie come in, still dressed up in their dresses from the wedding, followed by Cristina and Burke, Alex, George, Bailey and the Chief.

"Hey everyone." Meredith smiles weakly, still tired from the labor.

"We went up to the nursery and saw him! He's awake and so fussy!" Izzie exclaimed. Meredith smiled.

Katie crawls up onto the chair next to Meredith's bed. "Yes mommy, Bubbles is very cute, his face is red and he is so tiny! I can't wait to hold him! Where is daddy?" Katie asks as she leans over onto the bed and gives Meredith a kiss.

"I'm not sure where daddy is, he was here not too long ago." Meredith said, reaching up and touching Katie's cheek.

"Yeah, I don't think I have ever seen so much hair on a newborn. Its so thick just like his dad's!" Bailey commented, laughing.

"Yeah, thanks for ruining my wedding." Cristina laughs. Burke elbows her and gives her a look. "What? She knows I'm kidding." She looks back at Meredith and mouths 'I'm not kidding'." Meredith laughs.

Just then, the door opens and Derek comes in, pushing the incubator crib with the baby in it.

"Daddy!" Katie exclaims seeing him come into the room.

"Shepherd, you can't just take a baby out of the nursery." The chief said with a gruff laugh.

"Sure I can, it has my name on it!" Derek says, smiling as he pushes the incubator to the side of Meredith's bed. The nurse comes in right behind him.

"Ok everyone, only immediate family in here. Time for baby's feed time. You can visit mom a little later." The nurse tells everyone.

Everyone groans. "Come on, out, out… you know better." She says as she pushes everyone out except Derek and Katie.

The nurse puts the baby into Meredith's arms and says that she will leave the family alone for a few minutes before feeding. Katie moves over a bit and reaches out to the baby. "Mama, he is so little. I can't wait to play with him! Hi little Bubbles." She says, talking to the baby.

"Now that he's born, he has a new name." Derek said softly as he gently caressed the baby's cheek.

"What's his name?" Katie asked curiously.

"His name is Jackson. We can call him Jack. What do you think of that?" Meredith says.

"I think that's a PERFECT name! But I am going to call him Bubbles." Katie giggles, and they all laugh as they share some time together.

--------------

7:30 pm-

Derek sent Katie home with Izzie while he sat with Meredith for a little while.

"Derek, you look upset. Is there something bothering you?" Meredith asked.

Derek looks up, startled from his reverie. "Uh. Yeah, actually there is something on my mind. I have to tell you something and I don't want to make you upset."

"If you don't want to make me upset, then don't start your sentence off telling me that you don't want to make me upset." Meredith laughed nervously.

"It's alright sweetheart." Derek said, rubbing her back. "It's about your mother. When you were sleeping earlier, the nursing home called. She fell out of bed yesterday and had to be brought to the hospital. She had a pretty bad bump on her head and she broke her hip."

"But she's alright now?" Meredith said, tears escaping her eyes.

"She is stable. She is in a lot of pain because of her hip and they have her sedated right now. That's where I went when you were sleeping, I was checking on her status so that I could tell you about it, and of course I stopped in at the nursery on my way back through."

Meredith pulled her blankets from her legs and attempted to move towards the end of the bed. "I have to go see my mother." She says.

Derek moved quickly to the other side of the bed to stop her. "Meredith, you just gave birth, you shouldn't be getting out of the bed just yet."

Meredith looked up at him, pain evident in her eyes, her eyes narrow. "Thank you Derek, but I'm a doctor, I know my limitations. So, you can either get out of my way, or I will 'hormonally' remove you myself."

She stares him down for a full minute until he finally backs away. "Fine, I'll get the wheelchair." He says, defeated as he turns around.

-------------------------

Derek wheels Meredith down the hallway to her mother's bedroom. She enters the room and immediately notices the smell. "Derek, get the nurse in here, her bedpan needs to be changed."

"What? How do you know? Derek asks.

"I can smell it, alright, just do it!" Meredith yells.

Derek leaves the room and heads down to the nurses station. She wheels the wheelchair up to her sleeping mother's bed.

"Mom. It's me, Meredith. I know that you can't hear me right now, maybe you can, I don't know. But I just wanted to let you know that I love you very much. Derek and I are here if you need anything, and although you may not be able to remember us well, we're still here. Katie loves you so much, you make her smile so big when you look at her pictures that she colors for you." Meredith begins to cry.

"I just wanted to let you know that you have another grandchild, mom. It's a little boy, his name is Jackson. Jackson Grey. We gave him Grey for a middle name because we wanted him to carry it on. Katie insists on calling him 'Bubbles', that's her nickname for him." Meredith laughs. 

"He was born today and he is beautiful. I love you so much mom. I know that we didn't have the most ideal relationship, but you taught me so many things that no one else could have taught me. I love you."

Suddenly the machines connected to Ellis begin to go off. "HELP! HELP!" Meredith screams, trying to get up to help her mother. A nurse comes in and pushes Meredith out of the way and begins to assess what is happening. Several other nurses and Derek come running into the room. Derek grabs Meredith and pulls her back as they watch the doctors shock Ellis with the defibrillator. They try for several minutes to bring her back. They shock her several times and try their best to bring her back. Meredith looks on in horror as the doctor steps back, the room goes silent except for the sound of the heart monitor flatlined.

"Time of death, 7:52 pm."


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21-

The next few days were a blur. The baby's homecoming was marred by the death of Ellis, and between funeral arrangements, diaper changes, sleep depravity, packing to move to the new house, and Katherine's constant need for attention, Meredith was sinking into a deeper and deeper depression with every passing day.

Derek came home from work, and as soon as he walked through the door, Katie grasped hold of his leg, begging to be picked up. He picks her up and snuggles for a second and notices that she had been crying. "What's wrong baby?"

"Bubbles is crying and mama can't make him stop. I went up to talk to her and she yelled at me." Katie sniffled.

"Here sweetheart, you go sit on the couch and daddy will be down soon. Wipe those tears and we'll have a fun game of Candyland when I come back, ok?" Derek says.

"Ok, daddy, that sounds good." Katie said with a half smile, wiping her eyes with her hand."

Derek climbs the stairs and he can hear Jack crying from the end of the hallway. He walks to the bedroom and slowly opens the door and sees Jack, alone in his bassinet screaming on top of his lungs. His little face red with frustration. Meredith is lying on the bed on her side, staring at the wall, her eyes wide open and bloodshot, singing to herself, she has tears running down her face and she is rocking back and forth.

Derek picks Jack up and tries to calm him. He rocks him and carries him over to Meredith. He sits on the side of the bed and cradles Jack with one arm and touches Meredith's arm with his other hand. All the while saying soothing things to him. Jack's cries slow to little hiccups as he is soothed by the sound of Derek's voice.

"Meredith?" Derek says softly. "Meredith, sweetheart." Derek says in almost a whisper, holding her hand.

"WHAT?" Meredith yells, giving him an angry look. Not realizing how loud she was, instantly causing Jack to cry once more. She goes back to staring at the wall and crying.

Derek stands up and rocks Jack back and forth until he finally falls into a light sleep. He sets him in his bassinet and covers him with a blanket. He moves over to the bed and stands in front of Meredith. He doesn't say anything, he gently picks her up from the bed and sits down with her in his lap. He gently rocks her and runs his hands through her hair to soothe her. She snuggles into his chest, wiping the tears in her eyes on his shirt and falls asleep almost immediately.

-------------------------

Days went by and Meredith was feeling a little better, though she did have her moments of depression. Everything seemed to be getting better. Several weeks after the first incident, Derek came home to a quiet house. He thought something seemed off, Meredith's car was in the driveway, but the lights were off in the house. He slowly walked upstairs to the bedroom. The door was slightly open, Derek stepped inside. The first thing he noticed was that Meredith was lying in the bed, curled in the fetal position, sound asleep. He turned to the bassinet to check on Jack and he immediately began to panic.

"Meredith! MEREDITH!" Derek screamed.

"Wha? What? Why are you yelling at me?" Meredith groaned, putting her head up, and then plopping it back down on the pillow.

"Where is the BABY Meredith!"

"What do you mean? He's right over there in his… Derek…. Where is the baby?"

Derek and Meredith ran from the room, frantic. Meredith ran quickly downstairs while Derek began checking the rooms upstairs. He finally made his way to Katie's room, her little bedside table light was on and she was laying on the bed on her back, Jack was cuddled in his stroller beside her, awake and cooing. She was gently flipping through her 'daddy book' telling him all of the stories that were inside.

"Meredith, I found him." Derek called down, only to hear Meredith's feet running across the floor downstairs.

"Daddy!" Katie said excited.

"Katie! How did Jack get in here?" Derek said calmly, as to not alarm her, or make her upset.

"He was getting fussy and mama was sleeping, so I took him for a walk around the upstairs. He wanted to read about you." Katie said smiling.

Suddenly, Meredith came running down the hallway, with Buster (the puppy) on her heels.

"KATHERINE ELISABETH! WHAT ON EARTH WERE YOU THINKING? I TOLD YOU NOT TO PICK HIM UP!" Meredith screamed, her eyes filled with tears, her voice filled with anger. She stood there for a moment, wanting to yell more, until she saw Katie's lip start to quiver, and little pools of tears welling up in her eyes. Jack began to cry in his stroller. In almost a whisper she said. "I just can't take it anymore." She turned and ran down the stairs as quickly as she could.

"Katie, stay right there. Daddy will be right back." Derek said, before turning and running after Meredith.

Before he could get to her, Meredith was already in the car, peeling out of the driveway.

--------------------------

Derek walks up the stairs defeated. He enters Katie's room, where Katie had picked up her 'daddy book' and continued to read it to Jack. Jack lay in his stroller, considerably calmed after the screaming that Meredith had startled him with. Derek gently lifted Jack from his stroller and cradled him in his arms as he sat at the foot of Katie's bed. Katie continued lie on her back and hold the book up in front of her face and talk about the postcards.

"Katie." Derek said softly. Katie continued talking, as if looking at the postcards and talking about them would bring Meredith back and make her not so angry.

She read them with such determination, Derek knew exactly what she was doing. "Katherine." Derek said again, a little louder.

Katie held the book up a little higher and talked a little louder. Derek sat there for several seconds, waiting for her to acknowledge him.

After about two more pages of talking, she stopped. She just sat there with the book up in front of her face, silent. "Daddy." Derek heard the smallest voice come out from behind the book.

"Yes, Katie-bug."

"Is mommy mad at you?" Katie asked, her face still hidden by the book.

"I don't think she is, sweetheart."

"Is mommy mad at Jack?" Katie asked, still not moving.

"No sweetheart, mommy isn't mad at Jack." Derek said softly.

"Daddy." Katie whispered.

"Yes sweetheart?" Derek replied.

She gently closed the book and set it beside her on the bed. She sat up next to her pillow and looked Derek straight in the eyes. Her piercing blue eyes staring straight into his soul.

"Mommy never yelled at me like that before you came home, before Jack was here." Katie stared at Derek for a full minute before she broke her father's gaze and gently climbed off the bed. She grabbed her fuzzy brown dog and ran down to Meredith's room. She climbed up onto Meredith's bed, onto her 'sleep spot', snuggled into the blankets and began to cry.

Derek's heart was crushed.

He was speechless, he had never felt so hurt in his entire life. This was the exact reason that he had left in the first place. Wherever he was, there was hurt, and now his own daughter resented him. He wanted to cry, he wanted to scream, he wanted to just leave and let them go on with their lives the way that they had been before he had shown up at their door.

With that in mind he picked up the phone and dialed. "Hey, it's Derek. Can you do me a favor and come over to watch Katie for a little while? Thanks, I'll see you in ten minutes."

Derek carried Jack into the bedroom and set him in his car seat carrier and set it on the ground. He moved over to the bed and bent over Katie. "Katie. Daddy is sorry. He loves you very much." He reaches out to touch her face, only to be swatted away by her little hand. "Katie, daddy has to go somewhere for a little while, you be a good girl. I love you." Derek said softly, attempting again to give her a kiss, only to be swatted away again.

The doorbell rang downstairs and Derek picked up Jack in his carrier and walked to the door, he took one more glance back to Katie on the bed and put his head down as he closed the bedroom door behind him and walked downstairs. He opened the door and let the sitter in and thanked her for watching Katie. Taking Jack's seat in his arms, Derek sadly and quietly left the house.


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22-

Derek connected the baby's car seat to its base and got into the driver's seat. He then slumped himself over the wheel and just cried. He sobbed for several minutes and looked up into the rearview mirror, he sees the baby seat and could hear Jack moving around. He puts the car into drive and pulls out of the driveway.

Derek drives to the docks and carefully drives the car onto the ferry. He parks the car and gets out. He carefully lifts the baby's car seat out and puts a blanket over the top to shield him from the wind.

He walks slowly to the upstairs cabin. It is late, so there are not many people milling about. He reaches the top of the stairs and he sees a familiar face staring out from the cabin. He opens the door of the cabin and walks in, he silently walks to her and stands, staring out at the stars.

"Hey." He says quietly.

"Hey." She replies weakly.

"Why did you come here?" Derek whispers.

"To sit." Meredith replies.

"To sit?" Derek whispered

"Yes. Do you boys want to sit with me?" Meredith whispered, her voice cracking.

"Yes." Derek sat lightly on the bench, pulling Jack's carrier closer to them. He uncovers the carrier and looks down at Jack who is sound asleep. Derek looks out the window at the stars and Meredith lays her head on his shoulder and closes her eyes.

About a half hour before the ferry docks again, Derek lifted his hand to touch Meredith's face.

"Meredith?"

"Hmm…" She replied sleepily.

"Meredith, what are we doing?"

"Sitting." She said quietly.

"No Meredith, what are we doing with our lives, our day to day lives. Am I hurting you?" Derek asked as she lifted her head off his shoulder.

"Hurting me? Why would you think you're hurting me?" Meredith responded put aback.

"Everything is changing at such a rapid speed. I came back, you had the baby, we got engaged, we are building a house together, we have a dog together, but you're just so sad. I know that you are mourning your mother, but if I had stayed away, then you and Katie would be much happier without me, without all of the things that I brought with me, all of the change that I have caused. I can't imagine why you even want to be around me."

"Yeah, a lot has changed." Meredith said sadly.

"Do you know what Katie said to me tonight?" Derek said, putting his head down.

"What?" Meredith said, trying to look into his eyes.

"She said that you never yelled at her like that before I was around, before Jack was here. She said that and she ran out of the room. Meredith, she is so angry at me. I don't think she loves me anymore, I think she resents me."

"Derek, she's four years old."

"Meredith. Never dismiss what a four year old sees or hears. They're like little Mynah birds; they see and mimic everything that is around them. She sees the changes too, she sees what is going on, and just because she has a four year old size brain doesn't mean she doesn't have the soul and understanding of someone older. I think she's right, I think I've really messed things up." Derek says, tears in his eyes as he looks up at Meredith.

"Derek." Meredith says, a little less sad.

"Yeah." Derek replies, sniffling.

"I am not mad at you, I don't resent you, and Katie doesn't resent you or hate you. You are right, a lot of things have changed since you came back. But if I were in the right frame of mind, I would be able to see that each of these things were blessings, not something to worry or be upset about. It all started when you left, Derek. After I found out I was pregnant with Katie, I resented you a lot, I even hated you a little. I resented you for leaving me alone in this city filled with reminders of you, waiting on something that was not a 'reminder' of you, but was a 'part' of you. Yeah Derek, I did resent you, a lot. But the second that they placed that child in my arms. The second that I saw her little red face and black curly hair, I knew that there was absolutely no reason to hate you.  
You gave me one of the most precious things that I could ever ask for and at that moment, I loved you more than I have ever loved you before."

"So I loved her and I nurtured her and I told her all about her daddy. I made sure that she knew every detail that I could remember about you. It helped me heal, Derek. To think of you constantly, to see that little girl grow up with your eyes and your smile, she healed me. When you came back that day, so suddenly, you shook things up, you took all of those days of resentment and frustration and you made me remember them. I pushed them away and I kept pushing them and pushing them until I wasn't only pushing those feelings away, but I am pushing you away, and I'm pushing Katie and Jack away." She begins to sob loudly. Derek just holds her and comforts her as the boat slowly reaches the dock.

"Mer?" Derek said after a couple minutes. Meredith looked up at him sadly, with tears in her eyes. "The boat has docked, are you coming home?" He asked softly.

"Of course I'm coming home! I would never leave my children!" Meredith said, noticing the flinch in Derek's eyes when she said that last sentence. She lowered her head and continued. "Yeah, I'll be coming home. I just needed a little quiet time." She said as she looked back at him. "Are you mad at me?"

"No, I'm not mad at you. You have given me no reason to be mad at you. You did scare me though, running out of the house like that. What if I didn't know where to find you?" Derek asked softly, with a half smile.

"You have always known where to find me." Meredith smiles back.

"Let's go home." Derek says, standing up. He goes to pick up the baby carrier and Meredith takes his hand.

"Wait." She reaches down and she gently lifts Jack from his carrier. "Hey little guy." She whispers to him smiling brighter. She holds him close to her, his little eyes drooping with sleep as she snuggles him and whispers "I'm sorry." Derek lifts the carrier up and brings it down the stairs as Meredith follows behind, carrying Jack, whispering to him the entire way back to their cars. Meredith handed Jack over to Derek as she neared her car. "I'll meet you boys at home. I love you two." 

"We love you too, we'll see you later." Derek says as he gently takes the baby and puts him into the car seat.

Meredith walks to her car and gets in and Derek gets into his car as the slow procession of cars leave the ferry. Meredith goes towards home, and doesn't notice Derek, turning to go in the opposite direction.


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23-

Meredith drove home alone, her talk with Derek was fresh on her mind. She pulled into the driveway and got out of the car. Looking down the street, expecting Derek to be not far from her, she turns for the house and walks up to the door. Using her key, she opens the door slowly. She peeks inside and sees Cristina lying across the couch, sleeping on her back, with Katie tucked protectively under her chin, sound asleep. On the floor, George and Izzie lie against the couch cuddling, fast asleep. 

Meredith steps over George and Izzie and kneels next to the couch near Cristina's face. "Cris, Cris…" Meredith whispers.

Cristina's eyes open and she frowns when she sees Meredith standing there. "Where the hell did you guys go?" she whispers, glancing down at Katie, snuggling up to her chest.

"We had a little problem. I'll talk about it with you later." Meredith says. She holds out her hands and Cristina gently lifts Katie up a little so that Meredith can pick her up. Katie doesn't stir, she just puts her head on her mother's shoulder and continues to sleep. "Come upstairs with me." Meredith whispers to Cristina. They gently step over Izzie and George and go upstairs.

Meredith puts Katie in her bed, puts her blanket over her and walks with Cristina to her bedroom. She closes the door and sits on the bed.

"Meredith. Derek went to find you, he has Jack with him. He called me over to watch Katie and he just left, he didn't tell me anything about what is going on."  
Cristina said, sitting next to her on the bed.

"What is going on. Katie was hysterical when I got here, and then when she found out the Derek left with Jack, she really started flipping out."

"I saw Derek, he found me out on the ferry. He should be here soon, he left at the same time as me." Meredith explained. Then she explained everything about her depression, her feelings, Derek's feelings, she just poured her heart out to Cristina and before she knew it, she was in tears with her head in Cristina's lap.

"Mer, did you say that Derek left right behind you?" Cristina asked.

"Yeah, why?"

"Well, I don't want to alarm you, but its been almost an hour and he's not home yet." Cristina whispered.

"Wha…Where did he go?" Meredith whimpered.

Suddenly, Cristina's pager goes off. "Damn, it's the hospital, they want me to call." Cristina says as she moves over to the phone and dials a number, leaving Meredith lying on the bed.

"Hello? Yeah, she's right here, why?" Cristina says as a look of nervousness passes over her face. "Ok, we'll be right there!" Cristina says hanging up the phone.

Meredith sits up quickly, a look of horror crosses her face. "What? What happened?"

"Let's go, we need to get to the hospital." Cristina says as she grabs Meredith's hand and drags her down the stairs.

Cristina gets to the bottom of the stairs and kicks George in the leg with her shoe, while still holding Meredith's arm firmly in her hand.

"Ow, what the hell?" George yelps.

"Hey! Get up, we have to go now!" Cristina yells.

"What? Where do we have to go?" George gets up off the floor. Izzie stirs and wakes up.

"We have to go now, there was an accident. Izzie, can you stay here with Katie?"

"Uh, sure. Just make sure you call and let me know what is going on." Izzie says wiping her eyes. "Where's Derek and Jack?"

"That's why we have to go! NOW!" Cristina yells as she drags an almost catatonic Meredith out the door. George grabs his shoes and runs out the door barefoot after them.

------------------------------------

Cristina drives very quickly to the hospital, she pulls up to the emergency doors and Meredith jumps out before she is even at a complete stop. She runs into the back door of the hospital at full speed. Cristina parks the car and she and George trail behind her, Meredith is already around the corner, she runs head on into Doctor Burke.

"Where are they?" Meredith asks, breathless. Where ARE THEY?" She screams in desperation.

Dr. Burke takes her by her shoulders and looks her straight in the eye. "Meredith, calm down, look at me." Meredith can't look him in the eye, she just looks straight at his name tag on his jacket and won't look up. "Meredith! look at me!" Burke raises his voice.

Meredith looks at his face with a blank stare, looks at his eyes and just stands there. "Good, now just listen to me, are you paying attention?" Meredith nods loosely, her head bobbing.

"I am sure that Cristina told you about the accident." Meredith nods, her face contorting to a cringe. "First of all, Jack is fine. He was buckled into his car seat and he was just frightened, but he is perfectly fine. Dr. Karev was on call tonight, he has him in exam room 1 trying to calm him down."

Meredith stared at him for a second and turned and sprinted down to exam room 1, Burke on her heels, she burst through the door and Alex is there, holding Jack tenderly, trying to calm him. Jack is just screaming in terror, obviously having no idea what happened. Alex gently hands the baby over to a thankful Meredith who begins to rock him, and she suddenly realizes that she still doesn't know where Derek is. Burke comes in right behind her.

"Where is Derek?"

"Derek is in surgery right now. He had a compound fracture of his right leg." Meredith nodded as she gently rocked Jack.

"He was driving down the road when a stupid kid didn't look where he was going and pulled out right in front of Derek. Derek was probably going about fifty miles an hour when the kid pulled out, he didn't have enough time to react. He slammed right into the side of the kid's van. Thankfully there was no one else in the van. The kid was fine except for a couple of cuts and bruises, and his mother being mad at him for ruining the family car. Unfortunately, the impact smashed Derek's leg into the console. When we brought him in, he was pretty disoriented. He kept yelling about the baby and about cheesecake and how he had to get to you or something, so I called Cris hoping that you were home."

"He'll be fine?" Meredith said, tears in her eyes.

"He'll be fine. He'll be out of surgery soon and you can go see him." Burke said, giving Meredith a hug.

"Thanks Preston." Meredith said, returning the hug.

-----------------------------------------

Three hours later, Meredith sit in Derek's room, waiting for him to wake up from his surgery. She is holding Jack and rocking him, while gently singing him a lullaby. She doesn't notice Derek shift in his bed a little, to watch her.

"I bought you cheesecake." Derek whispered.

Meredith jumped. "Hey there sleepy head. What did you say?"

"I bought you cheesecake, that's why I didn't come home right away. I stopped at the store and got it for you."

"You didn't have to do that!" Meredith said, leaning over, holding Jack with one arm and stroking his face with the other hand..

"It's probably smushed now." Derek said sadly.

"I don't care about the cheesecake, I don't want YOU to be smushed." Meredith whispered to him.

"You don't care about the cheesecake?" Derek sighs, with a hint of a smile. "So, did they tell you what I did?" Derek asked.

"No, what did you do?" Meredith asked, leaning on the edge of the bed.

"I'm and idiot, I shouldn't tell you." Derek said, looking away.

Meredith reached out and pushed his face to look at her. "What did you do?" She said in her 'mommy' tone.

"Um. Well… my leg wasn't that bad, maybe a slight fracture, but all I could think about after the impact was Jack, and how he was in the car with me. He was screaming so loudly! I wouldn't have been able to take it if he was hurt. The car was in the middle of the highway and there were cars coming both ways, but I reached behind me and I unlatched him and grabbed him and I ran to the side of the road at my first chance." Derek says, tears in his eyes, reaching out for Jack. Meredith set him down beside Derek on the bed and he cooed happily.

"Mer, that's not the worst part. When I got to the other side of the road, I heard a horrific crashing sound behind me. A car in the other lane hit my car, right where Jack's seat was. It was the most awful thing I have ever seen in my life. Thankfully the driver of that car was fine, he just suffered some whiplash. Meredith. I was so scared." Derek sobbed as he snuggled his son closer. Meredith crawled onto the bed with him and they cried together.

-----------------------

Meredith called Izzie the night before to tell her that she wouldn't be home, but to bring Katie and some things for Jack to the hospital. She had explained to Izzie everything that had happened and looked forward to seeing Katie in the morning.

When morning came, Meredith found herself waking on the bed next to Derek, the nurses had brought a small incubator crib for Jack and he lay sleeping soundly inside. The door opened and Katie and Izzie quietly step inside. Katie is hiding behind Izzie as they enter the room. Izzie approaches Meredith and touches her arm.

"Mer?" Izzie whispers, lightly touching her arm.

Meredith stirs in her sleep and looks up at Izzie. She carefully sits up, as to not wake Derek just yet. "Hey." She whispers as she slips off the bed, wiping her eye with her sleeve. She sits in the chair next to the bed and tries to peek around Izzie to see Katie, who is hiding. "Thanks Izzie. How is she?"

"I'd tell you to ask her yourself, but she's not talking much this morning." Izzie says concerned.

"It's alright Izzie, thanks for keeping an eye on her." Izzie nods in acknowledgement. "Katie-bug?" Meredith whispers quietly. "Come here my Katie-bug." Katherine didn't budge, she just peeked out from behind Izzie at her mother. None of them noticed Derek moving his hand to the edge of the bed.

"Katie, Katie, little girl. I sure love my Katie girl." Derek whisper-sings from his bed. Nobody in the room misses the way her eyes light up and her little sideways grin as she hears 'her song' escape her father's lips. She walks over to Derek's bedside and puts her hand in his. He squeezes lightly as he looks down at her and she turns to her mother with a smile.

"I love you mommy." She whispers, she looks over at Derek, who can't control the tears that are beginning to fall. "I love you too daddy, and I love Bubbles too."

Izzie slips quietly out of the room to let the family spend some time together. Katie turns to her mother and gives her a big hug, Meredith scoops her up into a full hug, letting her tears fall freely.

"I'm so sorry, baby. I'm sorry mommy has been so sad. It's not your fault, its not daddy or Bubbles' fault either. Mommy just has some things in her heart that she's trying to work out. I love you so much!" Meredith sobbed into her daughter's hair. Katie puts her hand on her mother's face, wiping tears from her cheek.

"Don't cry mama, I love you." Katie says as she gives her mother another hug. She pulls away briefly and looks into her mother's eyes. "Mama, can I sit with daddy?" Katie asked softly.

"Sure can." Meredith says as she gently lifts Katie onto Derek's bed, her little feet dangling from the edge as she kneels at his side.

"Daddy. I'm sorry that I yelled at you." Katie whispered, leaning over and giving Derek a kiss on his cheek. She looks down and sees the cast on his leg and carefully moves a little closer, where she touches the side of his face. "What happened to your leg, daddy? Do you have an owie?" Katie asked innocently.

"Yeah sweetie, it's a little bit of an owie, but I'll be fine." Derek whispered to her, as she lay down next to him on her side, putting her little arm on his chest, tucking her little head under his neck.

"Daddy, will you please finish my song for me?" She whispered into his chest as she closed her eyes.

Derek took a deep breath and looked over at Meredith for a second, who smiled as he whispered slowly. "Katie, Katie little girl, I sure love my Katie girl. Eyes of blue and little curls, she's the best thing in the world. Katie, Katie, little girl." He smiled as a tear escaped his eye and he looked over at Meredith and her face mirrored his. They were going to get through this, there was no doubting that now.


	24. Chapter 24

**I just wanted to thank everyone thus far for your comments. I hope you're all really enjoying it... FYI this story is not really even NEAR finished... and if you don't know what that means, it means that there are about two hundred and fifty pages MORE (so far) that are already typed out waiting to be posted... If that freaks you out... sorry bout that... I originally posted this on a MB and its still going strong out there, and I am enjoying everyone's advice and thoughts on the storyline. I LOVE specific comments... pointing out a line or an incident that interested you. I dunno why... i guess i'm just weird... I hope you're enjoying it! THANK YOU!**

Chapter 24-

November 10 -

"But I don't want to go back to work!" Meredith whines as Derek helps her with her coat.

"Oh hush, you have to go to work, its time. You've had enough time to sit around the house and be lazy and watch soap operas." Derek chides her.

"Me sitting around? I have spent the past four months chasing around a four year old and changing diapers while you were off having all the fun!"

"I would not define fun as, sitting around in a cast, waiting to for my bones to heal so that I can stand on my own two legs, while everyone else around me is performing surgery." Derek whines.

"Ha ha. Now it's your turn to chase around the four-year old and change diapers, you can experience my fun." Meredith laughs as she heads for the door, Derek following behind her. "One more week and we'll be in our new house!" Meredith says excitedly as she gives him a kiss.

"Sure are! You be good and work really hard today Dr. Grey, remember, we have to pick a date for the wedding!"

"I'll think about it. You have a good day too, Dr. Shepherd, good luck." Meredith says smiling, giving him another kiss and stepping outside, closing the door behind her. Derek puts his back against the door and glances upstairs.

"I can handle the two of them, I don't know what she's thinking." Derek says as he starts for the kitchen.

Suddenly, he hears a rumble from upstairs as Katie comes flying downstairs with the end of a roll of toilet paper tucked into the back of her pajama bottoms, a stream of toilet paper stretching from the bathroom upstairs, to where she's standing. "Good morning daddy!" she giggles.

"Katie, what are you doing?" Derek asks.

"I was playing wedding! This is my dress train!" She exclaims, running into the kitchen, the toilet paper still tucked into her pajamas. He suddenly hears the sound of Jack upstairs stirring on the baby monitor, before he knows it, he's in a full blown cry.

"This is going to be a long day." Derek says, limping upstairs to tend to the baby.

-----------------------------------

Derek decides about mid afternoon that Katie needed a little bit of outside playtime to run off some of her excess energy. He suggested they go down to the park and play on the playground. Derek leaves a note on the table, puts his special boot over his cast, and bundles the baby up and packs his diaper bag and his baby carrier and as they're walking out the door, Derek takes a look behind him at the mess that Katie had made that morning. "I'll clean that up when I get home." He says as he carefully maneuvers out the door with the kids.

---------------------

Derek shuffles his way down the path, with Jack in his carrier on Derek's chest and Katie skipping at his side.

"I'm going to go on the playground daddy!" Katie exclaims, running over to the slide to play with the other children. Derek turned and walked to his usual bench and sat down with Jack. They sit there for a little while while Derek tickles Jack and talks to him.

"Hey Jacks, you like going outside, don't you? Where's my smile?" Derek says talking to Jack trying to get him to giggle.

"Oh! What an adorable little boy!" A woman says as she sits down next to Derek on the bench and smiles at Jack.

Derek smiles at his son's admirer. "Yep, this is Jackson." Derek says proudly.

The woman smiles and looks at Jack again. "Oh, well, he does have his daddy's eyes." She smiles at Derek. "How old is he?"

"He is almost eleven weeks old." Derek says proudly.

"He sure is cute! I wish my son were still this little." She says, looking over at the playground.

"Which one is your son?" Derek asked, looking over at the playground.

"That's my son over there climbing the ladder to the slide, that's Matthew." She smiles.

"That's my daughter over there, pushing your son on the ladder. Hang on a second. KATHERINE ELISABETH, PLEASE DON'T PUSH!" Derek calls over to Katie, she glances over at Derek and stops pushing, she apologizes to Matthew. Derek looks over at the woman and she is laughing.

"My name is Rebecca." She says, holding out her hand.

"Derek." He says smiling.

"I've only been here for three weeks, and I can't believe how gloomy it looks all the time." Rebecca says.

"Yeah, you get used to it, the nice days are very nice, it doesn't rain as much as most people think. I'm from New York, so it's different, but it isn't too bad." Derek says.

"You're from New York? That's where I just came in from! I start a new job tomorrow, so I'm excited. Matthew doesn't like it, he's only four and he had so many friends that he is missing right now because we moved. He misses his dad too, but this was an opportunity that I couldn't give up, so we just up and moved out here. Matt doesn't start school until next year, so we didn't have too much to uproot from."

"What do you do?" Derek asks. It starts to rain a little bit, Derek covers Jack's head, to shield him from the rain and stands up.

"Oh, I'm a neonatal surgeon." She smiles, standing up getting ready to go get Matthew.

"Really? My ex-wife was a neonatal surgeon, small world." Derek laughs as it starts to downpour. "It was nice to meet you!" Derek says, limping towards the playground with Jack and the diaper bag and calling Katherine.

"It was nice to meet you Derek!" Rebecca calls as she runs to get her son.

------------------------------

Derek takes Katie for some ice cream and then they go home. Derek pulls into the driveway and smiles when he notices that Meredith is already home. He picks the baby's carrier out of the car and helps Katie out of her seat and they walk to the house and open the door. Derek knows as soon as he walks into the house that he is in trouble. He knows this because the house is spotless. He quietly ushers Katie upstairs as he looks around for Meredith. He starts to attempt an escape up the stairs.

"Derek Michael Shepherd." He cringes when he hears the tone of her voice.

"Yes?" Derek says, his voice sounding small and worried.

"Are you going to explain why you left the house in a state of emergency?" Meredith says seriously, the hint of a smile playing at the corner of her mouth.

"Katie just HAD to get to the park, she had… an appointment…" Derek said, giving her his McDreamy smile.

"Oh yeah? Well since you were so kind as to make sure that she made her appointment, then you won't mind making an appointment with the dishwasher." Meredith says with a smile. "Now give me my baby and get your butt in there."

Derek felt that it was safe to walk by her, so he set the carrier down and lifted Jack from it. He walked towards her and smiles. "You wouldn't hit a man with a baby, would you?"

Meredith just laughs at him and lifts the baby from his arms. He turns for the kitchen and with her free hand she swings the dishtowel and smacks him in the butt, making him fake a yelp.

Meredith follows him into the kitchen cradling Jack in her arms. He walks to the sink full of dishes and turns to her. "So, how was your first day back at work?"

"Wasn't bad. We're getting a new attending tomorrow and they want me to show her around since I'm not going to be doing surgery for a couple more weeks." Meredith explained.

"That's not too bad, sounds like fun. I have to go in tomorrow, I get the cast off and I have some rounds in the morning." Derek explained.

"That's fine, we can put the kids in the nursery downstairs and that way we can visit them during lunch time." Meredith smiles as she looks down at Jack.

"I'm glad you had a good day at work." Derek walks over to her and kisses her on the lips.

"I'm glad Katie's appointment went well." Meredith kisses him back. Derek pulls away and starts to walk out of the room. "Derek… dishes" Meredith says.

"Um… I think there is a glass out there, got to clean that too." Derek runs from the room.

"Grr…" Meredith says, laughing.


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25-

The next morning, Derek and Meredith go in together. Derek brings the kids down to the nursery. Upon checking them in, Katie walks right up to a little boy and sits down and starts talking to him. Derek smiles at her interaction, he knows he's seen that little boy before, but he can't remember from where. Maybe he has always been at the daycare. Derek shrugs it off and he hands the baby carrier to the caretaker and tells her that he may be back around lunch time.

He goes down to Orthopedics and has his cast removed. He is relieved to finally get the cast off his leg.

He then goes down to the attendings locker room and changes for rounds. He steps out of the locker room and smiles when he sees Meredith standing in the hallway. She turns to head his way and he walks in her direction. Suddenly he does a double take, he can't believe his eyes when he sees who Meredith is walking down the hallway with.

Derek steps forward and meets them halfway. "Rebecca, it's so nice to see you again!" Derek says politely. Meredith stands by, looking slightly confused.

She smiles at the sight of Derek and holds her hand out. "Derek! Finally, a familiar face!" She says. "Dr. Grey here is showing me around the hospital." She smiles.

"Well, you're in good company. Dr. Grey is the best resident in the hospital. I should know, she's my fiancé" Derek says proudly as he puts his arm around Meredith. Meredith still looks extremely confused. Seeing the look on Meredith's face, he explains. "I met Dr…."

"Dr. Randall" Rebecca confirms.

"I met Dr. Randall yesterday at the park with Katie and Jacks." Derek smiles, a look of understanding passes over Meredith's face. "I saw Matthew downstairs in the nursery, I knew he looked familiar." Derek laughed.

"Yeah, he was very nervous, because he doesn't know anyone." Rebecca said.

"Don't worry, Katie was talking up a storm with him when I left, she'll show him the ropes." Derek smiled looking at Meredith, who gave him a small smile. "Well, I'll let you get back to your tour. It was nice seeing you again Dr. Randall" Derek says as he squeezes Meredith's arm affectionately and steps down the hallway.

"It was nice seeing you too Dr…"

"Shepherd, Dr. Shepherd." Derek says, waving good bye.

----------------

1:00pm-

Derek has come to the cafeteria and is sitting down awaiting the arrival of Meredith with Katie and Jack. Reading his book, he looks up and sees his little girl running quickly around the corner. "DADDY!" she squeals as she runs and jumps into his lap.

"Hey there little girl, what is going on with you?" Derek laughed as he bounced her on his leg.

"I have a new friend in the nursery. His name is Matt! He is a really nice kid." Katie giggles.

"Oh yeah? Aren't you a little young to be having boyfriends?" Derek teased. Meredith sets Jack's carrier on the ground and lifts him out of it. She gives Derek a smile at his question.

"Matt isn't a BOY daddy! He's just a kid, and he's my friend." Katie smiles.

"I see, I see." Derek laughs. "Let's see what mommy brought us for lunch." Derek says as he grabs the lunch bags that Meredith had packed and looks up and sees Rebecca coming in with Matthew. "Mer, do you want to invite them over here for lunch?" Derek asks, leaning over.

"Sure." She turns and sees Rebecca. "Doctor Randall! Why don't you two come on over here and sit!" Meredith calls. Rebecca sees them and smiles and walks over.

"Thank you so much! It's so hard when you don't know anyone, I appreciate how nice you guys have been to us. This is Matthew." Rebecca says to the retreating little boy who is trying to hide behind his mother's leg. "Matthew, why don't you take your sandwich and sit next to Katie, you know Katie." Matthew shyly leaves the security of his mother and climbs up into the chair next to Katie.

"Hello Matthew, I'm Derek." Derek says, holding out his hand to Matthew.

Matthew slaps Derek's hand and grins. "My daddy's a doctor, too." He says, turning around and looking at Katie, who is munching on her sandwich humming as if she couldn't care less.

"Hi Matthew, I'm Meredith." Meredith says.

"It's very nice to meet you." Matthew says with a smile, making Meredith to smile back.

"You're a very polite young man." Meredith says.

"He has his father's charm, and he's only four." Rebecca laughs.

"So, what brings you to Seattle?" Meredith asks.

"Well, I am originally from Chicago, that's where I started my medical career. I came to New York about 6 years ago. I worked out there for a little while, which is where I met Matthew's father, had an on again, off again relationship with him, and I was finally offered an attending position out here at Seattle Grace, so we packed up and moved." Rebecca explained.

"Wow, that is a lot of moving around. If you don't mind me asking, what did Matthew's father think of the big move?" Derek asked, knowing how he would feel in a situation like this.

"Matthew's father was an attending at the hospital I worked. He is a kind man, but he really didn't seem to be the father type. He always told me that he liked the bachelor life and that he wasn't ready to settle down. Don't get me wrong, he loves Matt with all his heart, couldn't get enough of him, bringing him to ball games and playing with him at the playground. When I told him that I was coming out to Seattle, he said he wouldn't want to come out here because of all the rain and he didn't want me to take Matthew away from him. But at this point in my career, there was nothing more that I could do, I needed to move on with my life. We had a huge fight right before I left and I haven't spoken to him since we got here. But I like Seattle, it's beautiful out here." Rebecca says smiling.

"It is a big change from New York, I know that for sure." Derek smiles.

Meredith's pager goes off. "Well, I got to go, duty calls!" Meredith says, handing the baby over to Derek, dropping a kiss on his nose. "I'll see you guys later!" Meredith calls back, they wave to Meredith as she makes her way out of the cafeteria, she turns and looks back at the table, Meredith sighs as she watches Derek laugh with Rebecca as she lifted Jack from his arms.


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26-

December 15th

The next couple of weeks are filled with busy work. Derek, Meredith and the kids move into their new five bedroom home situated on Derek's forty acres, and Derek and Meredith continue to balance their busy schedules between work and home. Katie and Matthew have become best friends, and it isn't rare to see the two playing in the backyard together on the swings and in the fort that Derek had built for the kids. Derek and Meredith have planned that their wedding would be the first week of June the next year and Christmas is fast approaching.

"Mama, Bubbles is smelly." Katie says, walking into the kitchen.

"That's what happens when you have a diaper full of poop, silly." Meredith says, walking into the den to get Jack from his playpen. "Are you ready to go, Katherine?" Meredith says as she changes Jack's diaper.

"Yep. Mama, can Matt come over and play today? It's rainy and I am going to be bored." Katie whines, sitting down next to her mother on the floor.

"No, Matt can't come over today, you're probably going to end up spending the better part of the day in the nursery. Daddy already went to work and mommy has to go in too." Meredith explains.

"Aw, Crap." Katie says.

"Excuse me?" Meredith says with her eyebrows raised.

"Uh… AW DIRTY DIAPER!" Katie exclaims.

"Katherine. Get your coat, let's go." Meredith says straight faced, she tries her best to hold in her laughter until Katie has left the room.

-----------------------------------------------------

Several hours later, Katie and Jack are in the nursery, Meredith is busy in surgery and Derek is just scrubbing out of his last surgery when his pager goes off. He looks at the page for a second and it confuses him at first. It's Dr. Randall's number. He makes his way up to NICU and finds her office. He gently knocks at the door and she tells him to come in. She stands up as he comes in. "Derek, I need your help." She says concerned.

"What's wrong Rebecca? You look scared out of your mind." Derek says, putting his hand on his shoulder.

"I'm not scared, I'm just concerned. Matthew's father showed up this afternoon. He is downstairs with him in the nursery now, I'm so worried that he's going to try to take him with him for Christmas." 

"Has he said that he wants to take him?" Derek asks, sitting down on a chair in her office.

She sits next to him on the other chair. "No, he hasn't, but I am too nervous to even talk to him right now. He asked if he could see him this afternoon, so I told him he could visit him, he would never just take him, but he might put up a fight. I don't know if I could talk to him without crying. I don't like arguing with him in front of Matt, it makes him upset."

"No, I understand completely. Do you want me to go downstairs with you while you talk with him? I could take a break with Katie and pretend that I'm just visiting her, that way if you need some back-up, I'll help you out. How does that sound?" Derek asks.

"That sounds great! I'd like to do it now if you don't mind. I'll go down first and start talking to him and you can come down in a couple of minutes, alright?" Rebecca asks hopefully. "Thank you so much Derek!"

"It's no problem, I will be down there in a couple of minutes. Good luck." Derek says, reaches out and squeezes her shoulder. "You'll do great." He smiles.

"Thanks Derek." She says as she steps out of her office and heads down the hallway.

--------------------------------

Derek waits upstairs for five minutes and then he leaves for the nursery. He has no idea what to expect. He doesn't know anything about Matt's father. He thinks for a second and decides that Matt is normally sized for a four year old, his dad can't be a giant or anything… or can he. He laughs to himself as he steps off the elevator; he is looking down and when he looks up as he steps off the elevator, he stops in his tracks and his mouth hangs open at what he sees.

Standing in the middle of the hallway having a heated conversation with Doctor Randall was none other than Mark Sloane. Derek walks up to them and Mark doesn't see him. "Mark, do I have to punch you out again?" Derek says angrily.

Rebecca is completely taken aback by Derek's comment, obviously having no idea that the two men are quite familiar with one another. Mark whips around at the sound of Derek's voice. "What the hell are you doing here? I thought you were in Africa or India or something." Mark says angrily, but actually humored by the fact that Derek is there.

"Shows how much you know, I've been back almost a year now. In fact, it's a year ago this week." Derek says.

"What are you doing down here? Can't you see that I am trying to have a conversation with someone?"

"First of all, you're not having a conversation." Derek says. "You are causing Dr. Randall here to be upset and worried about losing her son. Second of all, I don't like to see anyone in this hospital yell in front of my child."

"Your child?" Mark asks confused.

"Yes Mark." Derek says as he walks over to the window of the nursery. Matthew and Katie are sitting with their faces pressed against the window, making smooshy faces at their parents. "That one" Derek says, pointing at Matthew. "is yours." He says pointedly. "And that one…" he says, pointing at Katie. "Is mine."

"Wait, wait wait…." Rebecca stops them for a second. "You are Dr. Shepherd… THE Dr. Shepherd? The one that left his wife, my mentor, Dr. Montgomery to, as she put it, 'traipse around the world pining for his intern'?" Rebecca asks.

"The one and only!" Derek smiles.

"And Meredith is…"

"Well, I told you before that she is the best resident in the hospital… she used to be the best intern in the hospital." Derek laughs. "You worked with Addison and you're telling me that she never mentioned me or Meredith?"

"Well, she certainly mentioned you two, but not in names that I can use within a 10 mile radius of our children." Rebecca says. "Besides, I haven't worked with Addison in a couple of years, not since she found out that Matthew was Mark's child. She pretty much didn't want to have much to do with me."

"And Addison didn't mention about Meredith having a baby?" Derek directs his question to Mark.

"Nope, I tried to avoid her as much as possible, she didn't have anything positive to bring to a relationship. She was pretty angry when she found out about Matt." Mark says.

"Did she pull the old 'its probably not even yours' game?" Mark asked.

Derek nodded.

"Bitch." They both muttered under their breath.

--------------------------------------

Earlier that day-

Mark Sloane walked into Seattle Grace Hospital for the first time in a very long time. The hospital held some bitter memories as he thought of the day he tried to convince Addison to be with him. He smiles knowing how things worked out for her and thinks to himself that perhaps these memories aren't as bitter as he first thought. This visit, however was not like that visit from years ago. Addison no longer worked here and according to her, Derek wasn't even here anymore, he had gone on some soul searching trip around to different countries. Nope, Mark was here to see his son. He hadn't seen him in almost two months and it broke his heart to think that he missed that much of his son's life.

He had spoken to Rebecca on the phone, and she was being unreasonable again. All he wanted to do was to take Matthew home for Christmas. He understood that the move that Rebecca had made was a step up in the right direction, he just missed his son and if he was going to remain in New York and his son in Seattle, he wanted to spend some special time with him. Especially since Rebecca was with him every day and was able to interact with him. He just wanted to spend Christmas with him.

Mark slowly makes his way down to the hospital nursery. He peeks in the window and scans the room to find his son. He sees him in the coloring corner, coloring on construction paper. He seems happy, he's talking with a little girl that can't be much older than Matt, but they seem to be very happy sitting there, quietly coloring.

Mark enters the nursery and checks in with the caretaker, Rebecca had called down to inform them that he was visiting. He walks over to the coloring table and sits down near the children.

"Hey bud." He says.

Matt looks up for a second and does a double take. "DADDY?" Matt squeals and jumps out of his chair into Mark's arms. "Daddy! I missed you so much!" Matt exclaimed as he squeezed Mark tighter.

"It has been a while, what have you been up to?" Mark asked.

"Well! I am coloring and this is my friend Katie, she's my best friend!" he says pointing at Katie, who just continues coloring. "and this is where we color and play and have a good time, and Katie's dad built a swingset and a fort and we play there sometimes too!"

"Hi Katie, it's nice to meet you. Any friend of Matt's is a friend of mine." Mark holds out his hand to Katie, who looks up from her paper shyly. Katie reaches out and slaps his hand.

"Hey buddy, do you want to go back to New York for Christmas?" Mark asked, he knew that it wasn't right to plant a seed like that in a child's head, but if he was going to convince Rebecca to let Matt go with him, he was going to need Matt's approval.

"YES!" Matt smiles excitedly, but suddenly, his smile turns to a frown. "Uh oh daddy, you're in trouble." Matt says, looking at the window of the nursery. Standing there with her hands on her hips, looking VERY angry, is Rebecca.

-------------------------------------------

Meredith hadn't heard from Derek in quite a while, she figured that maybe he had gone down to the nursery to see Katie and Jack. She loved to watch him from the window in the nursery, it always made her smile to watch him interact with Katie. She stepped off the elevator and walked towards the room. She was very surprised at what she did see when she peered through the window.

Derek was sitting at the coloring table, with Katie on his lap, he was holding Katie in place with one hand and coloring with the other hand while Katie colored the same picture from her seat on his lap. Next to him, sat Mark Sloane, a face that she hadn't seen in over six years, with Matthew perched on his lap, mirroring exactly the way that Derek and Katie were sitting and coloring. The sight was so picture perfect, it made her heart melt. 

Meredith smiled as she watched the two men interact with one another. Meredith was a little confused as to exactly why Mark was there at first, but thinking back to her conversations with Rebecca, all of the pieces were put together.  
"And you didn't even find out until you came back?" Mark asked.

"Nope, I was completely in the dark. When I got home, I was introduced to the most beautiful little girl in the world." Derek said, dropping a kiss onto Katie's head.

"I never really thought about having kids until Matt here, I love having him around. And you have two!" Mark smiled.

"Yeah, I love having them around, they are great company, and they teach me so much. Matthew is really a great kid, great manners, and he keeps Katie company. Oh, I can show you something!" Derek says as he lifts Katie from his lap and sets her down next to him. "Hey Matt, remember that thing I taught you?" Derek says as he holds out his hand to Matthew.

Matt smiles and turns to Derek, he puts his crayon down and holds his hand out to Derek. Derek and Matt do a little secret handshake motion with their hands, all the while, Matt is smiling from ear to ear.

"You taught him our secret handshake!" Mark laughs.

"Yep, remember how cool we were? Haha" Derek and Mark laugh. Derek looks up and sees Meredith standing in the window looking in. He smiles and motions her to come inside.

-----------------------------------------

Meredith walks into the nursery and looks around. Before going to the coloring corner, she checks in on Jack, who is sleeping soundly in one of the cribs. She walks over to Derek and Mark and sits down.

"It's starting to look like an adult daycare in here." She laughs as she lifts Katie onto her lap. "I would ask you what brought you to town, but I have a feeling that I already figured it out."

"Yep, Matt is my boy." Mark smiles proudly, looking down at Matt.

"A well mannered boy, who is always welcome in my house." Meredith smiled.

"Thank you, Rebecca is a great mother to him, I feel very lucky. How have you been?" Mark asked politely.

"I'm doing just fine. We have had our ups and downs, but we're doing just fine now." Meredith said happily. "Are you really thinking of taking Matt back to New York with you? Rebecca seemed pretty upset when I talked with her this morning."

"I'm not sure yet. We started talking when Derek came down, she had to go to surgery, so I promised her I'd talk with her later about it." Mark said. "I'd really like to, I don't see him very much anymore." Mark said, giving Matt a little hug.

"How would the three of you like to come to dinner tonight at our house? The kids can play and we'll all get together and catch up on each other's lives." Meredith said, looking over at Derek, who is nodding.

"That would be very nice, Meredith. I'll ask Rebecca if she'd like to." Mark smiles.

"And then after the kids go to bed, you and I can go hang out at Joe's" Derek grins.

Meredith clears her throat. "You think so?"

"Um. If it's alright with Meredith." Derek corrects himself.


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27-

That afternoon, Meredith left for home a little early to make a nice meal of Lasagna with meatballs and sauce for her guests. Cooking is one thing that she perfected while on maternity leave, and something that she found was quite comforting when she was dealing with her depression. She was also happy to go home a little early so that she could spend some quality time with Katie and Jack while they waited for Derek and their guests to arrive.

Derek arrived home at 6:30 pm and changed into some nicer clothes and played with Katie in the living room until the doorbell rang. Derek walked to the door and invited Rebecca and Matthew in.

"MATT! Let's go play in my room! Daddy got me a new toy that I want to show you!" Katie exclaimed as the two children took off running down the hallway.

"Hi Rebecca, come on in and take a seat, as soon as Mark is here, we'll have dinner and then we can sit around and talk." Derek says, ushering her into the den. "Make yourself at home, Jacks is over there in his playpen if you want to hang out with him." Derek laughs.

"Thanks Derek, I really appreciate how nice you have been. I am actually a little nervous about this, Mark and haven't actually 'talked' in a while, we are usually yelling at one another." Rebecca says as she lifts Jack out of his playpen.

"It's alright, I promise to have a good talk with him." Derek said smiling.

"Thanks." Rebecca says, pausing in thought. "Derek, if you don't mind, can I ask you a question? You don't have to answer if you don't want to, but I just thought I'd ask this before Mark gets here."

Derek nods

"Why are you treating him as if he is your friend. After everything you went through and the betrayal that he caused you. How can you talk with him as if he never did those things?" Rebecca asked sincerely as she sat on the couch with Jack on her lap.

Derek sat beside her on the couch. "You see, when I left all those years ago, I was determined to leave the pain and suffering that others had caused me and the pain and suffering that I had caused, behind. I learned so many things from the different cultures that I worked with over those years. I saw so many things, that it made me realize that my problems were absolutely trivial compared to the other problems that so many people throughout the world are facing.

Derek sighs, "So, in essence, there is no reason for me to hate Mark. Because he has not done anything to the 'new' me. He is still the old Mark, and actually, it seems that because of you and Matt, he has become 'better' than the old Mark." Derek explained as he tickled Jack's feet.

"Besides that, I've known Mark since grade school, with Addison out of the picture, and his understanding of my relationship with Meredith, it would just be ridiculous to not take him back into my life. He and I have more of a history than Addison and I would have ever had and I've known him just as long as I have known anyone outside of my family. He is family, and I love him like a brother. Brother's can hate eachother now and then, and then they get over it." Derek explained smiling.

Suddenly, the doorbell rings and Derek gets up. "I'll get that." Derek smiles. He stands up and walks to the door.

He opens the door and Mark is standing there with three bouquet's of flowers, two larger ones and one smaller one. "Hey Crapface." Derek laughs.

"Hey Butthead." Mark smiles as he steps inside.

---------------

Mark presented Rebecca, Meredith and Katie with their flowers, which each one thanked him for and gave him a big hug. They all poured into the kitchen for dinner. Spending the whole time talking and laughing with one another.

After dinner, the adults sit in the living room and banter back and forth about their past experiences, both inside the operating room and out. Mark and Derek's banter tends to take over the conversation at times, partly because they haven't seen one another for such a long time, and also because they have such a history with one another. Rebecca made a point to not sit too close to Mark, though they were getting along very well at dinner and Matthew seemed especially happy to see his parents laughing at the same table together.

"Remember that time that your sisters and my sisters got together and had a sleepover!" Mark laughs fully.

"Yeah! And we took all their hair supplies and put green dye in it and when they played 'beauty parlor' they all ended up with green hair!" Derek laughs.

"You two make it a point to torture women on a regular basis, don't you?" Rebecca laughs.

"We called my sister Emma 'the hulk' for weeks after that!" Derek laughed. "And to answer your question, we do not torture, we just keep ourselves busy."

"That's what your mom would always say! She would come into your bedroom and say, 'boys, leave the girls alone, go keep yourselves busy'. And we would pull another prank!" Mark laughs.

"Remember the pranks that they used to play in med school?" Mark laughed.

"Yeah, we had this one roommate that was so gullible. We dared him to set up a cadaver on one of the benches on campus, dress him up like he was waiting for a bus. He did it and he got in SO much trouble!" Derek laughed.

Rebecca turns to Meredith and whispers. "I once stayed up all night studying for a test."

Meredith laughs. "I once picked up a guy at a bar and brought him home, only to find out he was married. See, we're exciting too."

However, the boys had no idea that they were even talking. They didn't even notice when Meredith and Rebecca got up and went into the playroom to spend time with Katie and Matthew, they just bantered back and forth for hours.

At 11pm, Meredith walked Rebecca and a very sleepy Matthew to the front door. She turned around to say goodbye to the boys, who were still going at their stories, trying to best one another. Mark and Derek got up to say goodbye and Mark offered to walk her to the car, which she graciously accepted.

Mark and Rebecca walk towards the car and Mark carefully takes Matthew from her arms to help her lift him into his car seat. He reaches in and buckles the sleepy boy into his seat. "Daddy?" He whispers sleepily.

"What is it buddy?" Mark whispers quietly.

"Please don't go." Matt whined.

"I will see you tomorrow bud, I promise." Mark says as he gives Matthew a soft kiss on his forehead. "You be a good boy for your mom."

"Ok." he says quietly. Mark backs out of the doorway and closes it, still looking at his son, sitting inside. He takes a step backwards and almost knocks Rebecca over. "Oh, I'm sorry."

"It's alright." Rebecca smiles shyly. "Well Mark, it was nice seeing you tonight." She says quietly. "Um…Are you going to come by and pick up Matt in the morning?" She asks, choosing to take the 'safe' conversation route.

"Uh, yeah. I'll pick him up at the nursery. I'll let you know when I get there." Mark says, casually. "Well, goodnight." Mark says, stepping backwards as she opens the drivers side door.

"Yeah. Goodnight." Rebecca says awkwardly as she still doesn't get into the car. They don't take their eyes off one another and the electricity in the air is unmistakable. She refuses to look away until he does.

Suddenly, Mark takes two steps forward and takes her head in his hands, he brings his lips to hers and kisses her passionately, running his hands through her long, dark curls. She doesn't resist, she presses her lips against his and grabs the belt loop on his pants and pulls him even closer to her, pushing against the car and closing the car door in the process. She rubs her hand up and down his body as he envelops her lips with his own. But something inside of her tells her to stop. She suddenly pulls away from him, his scent overwhelming her senses. "Mark, we can't do this." Rebecca says breathlessly.

"But we are." Mark says, kissing her neck as she carefully tries to push him away.

"Mark, we can't. There are so many reasons why we can't." Rebecca says, stepping back, his hands falling to his side, a look of defeat crosses his face.

"Why can't we? Why can't we try again?" Mark says.

"Well, for starters, you're in New York City, and I'm in Seattle. Long distance relationships don't work first of all, and second of all, you're not ready for commitment. I've heard that argument so many times from you about how you're not ready to settle down and how you don't know if you'll ever be able to settle down. I need stability, Mark. I need it now. That is what I have here. I have stability, and I can't have you coming here and attempting to whisk me away on some wild ride. I am a mother first, I am a doctor second, I don't know if there is room for anything else right now."

"So not now?" Mark asks, his voice cracking.

"Not now Mark." Rebecca says, quietly as she opens the car door and gets inside.

Rebecca begins to drive down the driveway slowly, looking back, she can see Mark standing where she left him, looking hurt and broken. It took all the strength that she had, not to go back for him.

Mark shuffles back up the steps to the house, he opens the door and Derek is sitting on the couch talking with Meredith.

"Hey, how about that drink?" Derek asks, looking up at Mark.

"I don't know. I think I'm just going to head back to the hotel." Mark mumbles.

"Seriously? You think I'm going to let you stay in a hotel? First, you're staying here, second of all, you look like you could use a drink. Meredith is going to bed now, the kids are in bed, let's go." Derek says as he turns, gives Meredith a kiss and drags Mark towards the door.

"Thanks for dinner Meredith, I guess I'll see you later." Mark calls as he looks back. Meredith waves goodbye and laughs.

---------------------------------------  
Mark and Derek arrive at Joe's and sit down in a booth. "Stay right there, I'll be right back." Derek says as he gets up and goes towards the bar. He comes back with 10 shots of tequila and a smile on his face.

"What's this?" Mark asks.

"It's a little drinking game that Meredith and I used to play. I haven't done it in years, but you'll catch on." Derek says.

"Derek, I don't care how much tequila you put in me, I am NOT going to sleep with you." Mark laughs.

Derek laughs and picks up the shot glass. "Alright, anyone at this table that has killed someone, take a drink." Derek says.

"Are you serious?" Mark says. "What kind of game is this?"

"I was giving you an easy one. I say something that I have done, and I take a shot. If you have done it too, you have to take a shot. We have to try to stump the other." Derek says. "So, if you have killed someone, take a shot." Derek says, downing his shot of tequila.

"That's not fair! I am a plastic surgeon, you're a neurosurgeon, you work with totally different circumstances!" Mark complained.

"Quit complaining and do it." Derek says.

"Fine. Who at this table has never been engaged." Mark downs a shot. Derek laughs.

"Alright, who at this table has had sex with Meredith." Derek says as he downs another shot. Mark downs a shot too. Derek gives him a dirty look.

"What? I was thirsty!" Mark says innocently, Derek laughs. "Ok, who at this table has had sex with Addison." They both down a shot.

"Ok, who at this table has children out of wedlock?" Derek asks. Mark downs a shot, Derek downs two. Mark gives him a look. "What? I have two, you only have one!" They laugh, and Mark suddenly gets quiet. "What is it, you alright man?"

"Who at this table has way too many regrets." Mark asks quietly, holding up a shot glass, he downs it quickly, feeling the bitter taste as it rolls across his tongue and down his throat. He looks up at Derek, who looks very concerned. "Hey, who's winning?" He asks quietly.

"I think the tequila is winning." Derek says quietly.

-------------------------------------

Derek and Mark finish off the last shot of tequila and decide to get a couple more drinks as they sit and talk about various things that they have been doing lately. They are both very, very drunk. The conversation begins to lull as Mark gets a very serious look on his face. He stares at Derek for a few minutes, and Derek is staring off into space, somewhere past Mark. He notices that Mark is staring at him, and he tries to lighten his mood.

"What is it? Am I starting to look cute to you or something? Because if that's it, maybe we should get home." Derek laughed.

"How do you do it?" Mark asked, ignoring Derek's question.

"How do I do what?" Derek asked, his brow furrowing as a look of confusion crossed his face.

"How do you get the woman that you want, to love you back?" Mark slurred, continuing to look at Derek intensely, as if trying to gain any knowledge he can by just looking at Derek.

"What do you mean?" Derek asked, leaning on the table slightly.

"Becca doesn't want me. She thinks I'm unstable and an awful person. I kissed her tonight." Mark said sadly. "I kissed her and she pushed me away."

"Mark, you have to give things up if you want to get things. Make sacrifices, real life choices. You have a grown-up job, you have a son, you have to start acting like a grown-up." Derek explained, hoping that he was making sense.

"I hate you." Mark said. "Meredith made you grow up, you're happy and I'm a miserable sap."

"I hate you too. You get to run around and act like a kid if you want, but I wouldn't give up what I have. Not for anything in the world. Mark, I missed the first four years of my own daughter's life. I didn't get to see her learn to talk, learn to walk, I didn't get to spend those times in the middle of the night when she had nightmares, holding her in my arms to tell her that it would be alright. I missed that and it kills me to know that. Meredith doesn't even know how I feel about it. You can't give up on yourself, you have to make Rebecca believe that you love her like you say you do. You have to prove to her, make her trust you. Besides, you're the moron who fell in love with a strong woman who can fight for herself. We're both morons. Its our fault." Derek babbles.

"Girls are stupid." Mark replies.

"Yeah, girls are stupid." Derek laughs.

----------------------------------------------------------

Another hour later, the cab with Mark and Derek pulls up to Derek's house. They pay the cab driver and stumble up the steps to the house. All of the lights are off except the one in the front hall.

"Mark, yer room is the third on the left upstairs." Derek mumbles as they walk towards the stairs. "Goodnight." Derek says as he stumbles down the hallway into the bathroom.

"Goodnight." Mark replies. He gets to the top of the stairs and counts down "One. Two. Third on the right. He says as he walks into a darkened room. He walks over to the bed and kicks his shoes off and flops down on the bed.

"Derek?" Meredith mumbles from the other side of the bed.

"Huh?" Mark says as he looks over and sees Meredith snuggling in her blanket, her eyes still closed.

"Derek… did you two behave?" Meredith mumbles, still not opening her eyes.

"mmhmm.." Mark says, laughing to himself. The door opens and Derek walks in.

"Meredith? Who are you talking to?" Derek says as he kicks his shoes off.

"You. I'm talking to…" Meredith rolls over and sees Mark lying on the other side of the bed, perfectly still, looking over at her, grinning. "You ass, this isn't your room." Meredith laughs.

"It isn't? I usually have a beautiful woman in my bed with me, I just automatically figured that you came with the bed." Mark laughs.

Meredith moves over to the middle of the bed and Derek lies down on the other side of Meredith, so the two boys are on either side of her. "You so better get out of here, you said that you didn't want to sleep with me, so just go…" Derek slurred, pretending to be hurt.

"Meredith?" Mark says quietly.

"What Mark?" Meredith laughs.

"I love you." He says as he reaches over his arm and pulls her close to him. "I love you for making Derek my friend again. I love you for being the sexy, understanding woman that you are!" Mark exclaims pulling her into a hug.

"Hands off!" Derek laughs as he pulls Mark's arms off of Meredith and shoves him, he falls to the floor with a thud.

He sits up and peeks over the bed, so all that Meredith and Derek can see is the top of his head and his eyes. 

"I love you for having a rug down here." He laughs.


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28-

December 16th-

6:00am

The next morning when Meredith and Derek woke up, they walked downstairs to the kitchen and they could already hear Katie chattering to someone in the kitchen. They knew that Katie usually stayed in her bedroom until they woke up on work days, so they were sure that she was up keeping Mark company.

"So you're saying that Barbie's dream house comes with not only pink curtains, but blue ones too? That is just crazy" Mark exclaims.

"No Uncle Mark, its true. Blue AND pink and I can pick which ones I'm going to put on the windows." Katie gleefully smiles as she shows him pictures from a catalog.

"And what makes you think that Santa is going to bring you this dream house?" Mark inquires.

"Because I have been so very good!" she smiles.

Derek shuffles into the kitchen, with Meredith behind. "Yeah? You have been good?" Katie nods. Derek asks as he walks to the cupboard and pulls down a box of Muesli and a two bowls. He hands one to Mark , puts the cereal on the table and gets the milk.

"Aww, don't you guys have anything better than this crappy health food cereal?" Mark whines.

Meredith walks to the cupboard and opens it, revealing several boxes of sugar filled cereals. "Prefer any of these?" She smiles as she pulls down the Lucky Charms for Katie.

"OH! MEREDITH!! I LOVE YOU!" Mark exclaims as he jumps from his stool and runs over to the cupboard and pulls down a box of Corn Pops, turning and giving Meredith a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

"Alright, that's enough, we don't want them to suspect anything." Meredith says as she pushes him away. Derek and Katie are watching the scene and laughing. Mark goes quickly to his stool and pours a bowl of cereal.

"So, Derek, we're going to do some shopping I hear." Mark says to Derek.

"Yep, Meredith gets to work, we get to do some shopping, and if the kids are good, we might even get to see Santa" Derek says smiling.

"YAAAAAYYYYY!!!" Katie screeches.

"OW!" Derek and Mark exclaim as they cover their ears.

"Man, I think we drank too much last night." Mark says.

They hear Jack crying over the baby monitor, and Meredith walks by Derek, bends very closely between them. "HAVE A GOOD DAY BOYS!" She says laughing as they wince and cover their ears. She leaves the room to get the baby.

Meredith brings the baby to work with her to drop off at the nursery and Derek brings Mark to Joe's to pick up his car so that he can meet up with Derek and Katie at the mall after picking up Matthew and his things at the hotel.

----------------------------------------

Mark meets up with Derek and Katie at the entrance, both men walking side by side with the kids in their strollers.

"Derek, can you believe we're doing this?" Mark whispers.

"What? Walking through the mall with our kids? I know. Who would have thought that we'd be fathers?" Derek whispers back.

"No, I mean going to the mall during Christmas time, are we crazy?" Mark says, looking at the crowds of people.

"Yeah, I'm going to need to go out for a drink after this." Derek responds.

"Oh… don't even say the word drink, my head is pounding." Mark replies, touching his temple.

"DADDYS?" Katie and Matthew scream together, pointing out that they were coming up on the center court of the mall where Santa is.

"Not yet, we have a little shopping to do." Mark responded, still holding his temple. "and please use your inside voices." The two kids look up at their fathers and give a grin, apologizing for giving them a headache, excited about the prospect of seeing Santa.

They go from store to store, looking for gifts for Rebecca, Meredith and some of their other closer friends, talking about Christmas and how they used to spend it all together when they were kids.

At one point, Derek lifted Katie out of her stroller to take a look at an expensive diamond encrusted Christmas ornament on display. It was about three inches high and it was a statue of an angel. Katie put her hand out and lightly touched it, a gleam in her eye that signified how incredibly happy that she was to be shopping with her daddy this year, instead of going with someone else, her smile was so bright, it lit up the entire store.

Suddenly a woman came up from behind them. "Excuse me, please don't let the children touch the ornaments, they break very easily." The older woman said, sticking her nose up in the air, her nametag signifying that she worked at the store.

"Excuse me?" Derek says, turning. His smile, changing to a frown.

"Do not let the children touch the ornaments. If they break it, you will be forced to purchase it." The woman said, reaching for the ornament. Derek pulls it away from her, Katherine buries her head in Derek's neck, her eyes filling with tears.

"Excuse me." Mark's voice comes from behind Derek.

"Yes sir?" The woman said turning towards Mark.

"Yes, Excuse me." He looks at her nametag. "Gladys. But I think that you owe this young lady an apology."

"And why is that?" The woman said.

"Because that little lady right there has more tenderness in her pinky finger than you have in your entire body. I think that you owe her an apology for assuming that she would be anything but gentle with someone else's property."

The woman stands there in shock for a moment, Mark smiles at her and her facial expression softens as she turns to Derek. "Sir, I'd like to apologize to your little girl, I'm sorry that I made her upset. Is she alright?"

Derek looked at Katherine and pulled her head out of his neck. Her blue eyes have a hint of tears, and she sniffles a little. "Yeah, she'll be fine. I think we'll buy this ornament." Derek says smiling.

::SMASH::

They turn around and Matthew is sitting in his stroller, grinning like a madman, pieces of the Christmas ornament that he had just pulled off the tree and thrown to the ground strewn about.

"Uh, I think we'll take that one too." Derek says sheepishly.

After the ornament incident, Derek and Mark decided that it was time to visit Santa and get out of the mall as soon as possible. They waited in line and Katie was first to go up, she walked over to Santa and climbed up into his lap. She smiled for the camera and gabbed it up about what she wanted for Christmas. When she was done, she hopped from his lap and accepted a candy cane from him and returned to Derek.

Matthew was next, he was a little more shy about it. He walked up to Santa slowly, looking back at Mark and Derek and Katie, a couple of times as he went. His big green eyes laden with fear. He sat up on Santa's lap and gave a weak little smile and when Santa asked him what he wanted for Christmas, his mind went blank. He sat there staring at Santa as is he was speaking another language. Katie watched her best friend while holding Derek's hand. Suddenly, she wriggled out of his grasp and ran to her friend. She excitedly whispered something in his ear which made him grin from ear to ear. He suddenly started to talk quickly and happily to Santa as Katie ran back to Derek. When he was finished, Matthew ran happily to his father and Mark lifted him up and dropped a kiss on his head.

"That was fun wasn't it?" Mark asked as they paid for their pictures with Santa. "You look awfully happy about what you asked Santa for."

"I am!" Matthew replied.

"What did you ask for?" Mark inquired, as the four of them start walking towards the exit.

"Um, I told him that I wanted you to live with me and mommy again." Matthew said, proud of himself. "Katie says that she asked Santa for her daddy last year, and she got her Christmas wish, if Santa can give Katie her daddy, then Santa can bring you to live with me and mommy!" Matthew smiled, wrapping his arms around his father's neck and burying his head in Mark's neck.

"I wish it were that simple." Mark whispered to himself, giving Derek a knowing glance. "Who wants to go get a Christmas tree?" Mark asks, trying to cheer himself up.

"MEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE" Katie, Matthew, and Derek scream.

Mark holds his hands over his ears for a minute giving Derek a dirty look and a half grin. "Ok… ok… Christmas tree it is…"

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Meredith and Rebecca leave the hospital at the same time, Meredith invites Rebecca over for dinner, since she has to pick up Matthew anyway. They are pulling up the long gravel drive and Meredith sees a dull glow in the distance, coming from where the house is. She begins to panic, she has never seen anything like it. She drives faster, concerned that their brand new house was on fire. She turns the last corner and cannot believe her eyes. The entire house is covered from top to bottom in Christmas lights, inflatable Santas, Snowmen, and Christmas Winnie the pooh characters. Someone had put a huge Santa and Reindeer decoration on the roof, six trees in the front yard are covered in Christmas lights. The front walk is laden with lit up candy canes leading to the front door. It is the most gaudy, unbelievable thing that she has ever seen.

She parks the car and Rebecca parks next to her. They get out of the car and they are speechless. They just stand next to the car staring at the house. Derek and Mark step out of the house and walk up to the girls. They stand back and admire their handy work.

"You two have way too much time on your hands." Meredith laughed.

Derek lifts Jack from his car seat and his eyes widen as he points at the house and smiles. "Hey! At least SOMEONE likes it." Derek says with a smile. "Come on in, we have dinner all ready for you guys."

"Hmm… they babysit, and they cook!" Rebecca smiles as they walk down the sidewalk to the house.

After dinner, Meredith and Derek talk in the kitchen while Mark and Rebecca sit together on the couch in the den talking casually. Katie and Matthew ran to the playroom after dinner and are being quiet for the moment. Meredith and Derek enter the den smiling, carrying a tray of hot cocoa.

"Mark, I talked it over with Meredith, she said it would be fine." Derek says to Mark as he sets the tray down on the coffee table.

"Talked over what with Meredith?" Rebecca asked, confused. Looking between Derek and Mark.

"Well, that is what I want to talk about Becca. I talked a lot with Derek about the way I have been feeling and about Christmas with Matt and everything. He gave me some pretty good advice. One of the things he said, was that I have to learn to sacrifice for the people that I love. I love you and I love Matthew, and I'd like to prove it to you. I decided that I am not going to take Matt back to New York with me. You have just as much of a right to spend Christmas with him as I do." Mark smiled, Rebecca's eyes sparkled as he spoke.

"I have decided that I would like to spend Christmas with both of you." Mark said quietly. Rebecca began to speak up, but Mark continued. "I know what you are going to say, that it would be too quick to just have me stay at your place for Christmas, but Derek and Meredith have offered me a room until after the holidays, and if you would like me to spend the holidays with you, I would really like it, I'd like to be surrounded by those that I love." Mark said tenderly, looking into her eyes.

Rebecca's eyes begin to fill with tears as she looks into Mark's eyes. "You want to be with us?" She whispered. Mark nodded, looking up at Derek and Meredith and back down at Rebecca.

"There is nothing in this world that I would like more." Mark smiled. "Can I stay?" He asked, holding his hand out to her.

She nodded, her hand reaching to touch his. "You can stay." She smiles, her eyes, never moving from his.

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December 20th

Derek and Mark decide that because their ladies have been doing so much preparing for the holidays, that it is time to take them out for some celebrating. Izzie and George agree to watch the three kids overnight and the two couples head to Joes.

The four walk into the bar and walk towards a booth. Mark sits down and when Rebecca is about to sit down, Meredith grabs her arm.

"Nope, you're sitting next to me." Meredith smiles as she shoves Derek into the side next to Mark. "This way, they can't take advantage of us." She whispers in her ear as she ushers Rebecca into the booth.

Rebecca laughs and Meredith slides in next to her .

"So, what did you boys want to talk about?" Meredith asks, reaching her hands across the table, to hold Derek's outstretched hands.

"I'll tell you what we will not talk about, at least until we're not sober anymore, we aren't talking about the kids, or Christmas." Derek laughed.

"That's a deal." Rebecca says. "So, who wants a drink?"

"I'll get it." Meredith says hopping from the booth and she runs to the bar. She leans over the bar and whispers something in Joe's ear. She turns and looks at the table and Joe gives her a smile. He pulls out a tray and puts four shot glasses and a full bottle of tequila and she picks it up and brings it back to the table.

"Oh, not that again!" Mark says, seeing what Meredith is bringing over.

"What? You afraid that we could handle more than you?" Meredith replies

"No." Mark pouts.

"You should be!" Meredith laughs as she pours four shots of tequila.

"I've never played a drinking game." Rebecca says meekly.

"Well, there's always time for learning." Meredith says, handing out the shots. "Derek, you know how to play this game. Mark, I know you're familiar with it. I'll work with Rebecca, but we are so going to kick your asses tonight." Meredith said with a mock angry glare and a hint of a grin. "Gentlemen, you may start."

"Alright. Who at this table has a penis?" Derek smiles a snarky smile as he and Mark take a shot.

"Who at this table has breasts, and manboobs don't count, so don't even try it Derek." Meredith laughs as she and Rebecca take a shot. Derek gives her a pouty face and looks at Rebecca who, for someone that claims to have not drank much in college, is suspiciously unaffected by the taste of the tequila.

"Alrighty ladies." Mark laughs. "Who at this table has kissed a woman on the lips!" Mark says with a smarmy grin. Derek and Mark take a shot and grin at the two women. Meredith and Rebecca look at one another for a second, turn to look both guys in the eye and down at their shots. They quickly pick up the glasses and down the shots. A look of astonishment pass over Derek and Mark's face as they look at one another and then back at the girls. Suddenly, they both get a little evil grin on their faces, which don't go unnoticed by the women.

The drinking game goes on for a little while longer until the first bottle of tequila, and half of a second is finished. Final score, Men eight, Women, twelve. They sit and talk for a while, comparing stories of growing up, laughing at one another, Mark and Derek sobering up while Meredith and Rebecca sip on other drinks.

"Drererek!" Meredith laughs as Derek is telling a story and he begins to play footsie with her, having slipped his shoe off and running his foot up her leg to her thigh.

"Mer, you really have had too much too drink." Derek laughs as Meredith stumbles out of the booth and attempts to stand up, falling backwards into a giggling Rebecca. She sits up and looks at Derek and grins drunkenly and sticks her tongue out at him. "I think its time I get her to bed, she's really going to regret this in the morning." Derek says as he tries to help Meredith up out of the booth. "We'll see you tomorrow. Thanks for a great night!" Derek says as he stands up.

Meredith goes to where Derek was sitting and crawls across the booth seat to Mark. "I'll see you at home later, cutie." She says as she gives him a kiss on the cheek. Rebecca laughs and Derek grabs her arm and gives it a light tug.

"Come on Flirt, let's go." Derek says laughing as she gives in and stands up.

"I'll see you later Der, I'll be home in a little while, just want to talk to Becca a bit." Mark says with a smile. "I plan to stay here until I'm alright to drive. Goodnight."

Derek and Meredith wave goodbye and leave.

Mark looks over at Rebecca across from him, who is smiling brightly from her side of the table. "What?" He says with a smile.

"Nothing." Rebecca coyly smiles back.

"What?" he repeats, reaching his hands across the table.

"I love you." Rebecca whispers, her smile slipping to a frown as she reaches her hand across the table to him.

"You love me? Why do you say that like you're upset about it?" Mark asks, squeezing her hand a little.

"I can't love you. I need stability, Mark. But I can't help loving you. You are so far away from us, I almost regret coming out here." She says with a pout.

"No Becca, you can't regret coming out here! You are making a better life for yourself, for Matthew. You need this, you deserve this." Mark says calmly.

"But you're not here, you make everything better. Its lonely here when you're not here. I hate myself for wanting to be responsible." She says, tears falling down her cheeks.

Mark reaches up and wipes the tear from her cheek. He lifts the tear up and puts his finger to his lips, tasting the saltyness from it. She smiles at his gesture, remembering how he had told her that tears shed for someone should never be wasted and wiped away, there is a reason for all of them, and to wipe them away would be disrespectful.

"I don't want you to cry. That is for me to do. You left me so that you could get on with your life, you left so that I could prove to you that I can act like a grown up. I am prepared to do anything to ensure your trust in me. I love you, please don't cry. I have a surprise for you, it was supposed be for Christmas, but I can't wait, can I share it with you?" Mark says quietly.

"Yeah." She tried to smile.

"Well, I have decided to come to Seattle, if you will have me. I have arranged to be transferred to Mercy West, as to give you the space and privacy that you need, and I am in the process of finding an apartment. I need to be near you, I need to be near Matthew. I need this and I want to know if it is alright with you before I make the final plans." Mark said, squeezing her hand.

Rebecca paused for a moment, taking in all that Mark was saying. This is a big step for him, she had never seen him be so selfless in all the years that she had known him. Her heart yearned to reach out and kiss him right there. "Mark, I would love for you to be a part of our lives, I love you. We're going to take this slow, right?"

"Snail's pace, I promise." Mark grinned. "Come on, let me take you home." Mark says, standing up and holding his hand out to her to help her up.


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29-

April 29th-

"But I don't want to leave my babies!" Meredith whines as she packs her suitcase.

"Come on Meredith, Katie is five, she's a big girl and Jack is eight months old, we can leave them for a few days to go on a vacation. Rebecca promised to take good care of them, they'll have Matthew to play with and won't even know we're gone." Derek says as he puts his clothes in his suitcase. "We're going to have a great time. My parent's cabin is right in the Catskills, we'll get to do some fishing and visit with my parents, it'll be great! No television, no hospital, no kids, no worries!"

Derek and Meredith pulled up a long winding graveled driveway and they could tell that they were nearing the lake. Derek pulled up to a beautiful cabin that was right along the water. Stepping out of the car, Meredith looked around in wonder at the woodwork on the cabin and the boardwalk that was placed in along the lake.

"Derek, this place is absolutely beautiful." Meredith says in wonderment as she looks around.

"Thanks, my dad designed it and built it. We used to spend all of our summers up her swimming and fishing. It's a great place, there is no one for miles."

Derek smiled as he looked out onto the lake, seeing the sun setting, sending pinks and purple colors across the sky. "And this place has always had the best sunset. I've never brought a girl here before you know." Derek laughs.

"Oh, so I'm the first? What about Addison?" Meredith asks as she walks up beside him and puts her hand around his waist.

"Eh, she was never into the outdoors, you know that. You're the only one that I ever wanted to see this place. You respect it, you appreciate it. I love you." He says, putting his arm around her shoulder. They stand there for several minutes enjoying the sunset.

"Hey you guys! Are you just going to stay out there all night?" Derek's mother called from the deck on the cabin.

"We're coming mom." Derek laughed as he looked up and smiled. He turned to Meredith. "You go on up, I'll get the suitcases." Derek says, giving her a deep kiss on the lips. He stepped back and noticed the look on her face. "And stop worrying about things!"

"I'm sorry Derek, I'm just thinking about the wedding, its only a little over a month away. Maybe we shouldn't have come out here? We still have planning to do." Meredith said as she walked towards the steps.

"Meredith , the wedding plans are going to be fine. We took this trip so that we don't have to worry about it for a couple days. You know your friends are all helping out, now get your butt upstairs and I'll be up in a minute." He says as Meredith ascends the steps to the upstairs deck where Derek's parents were waiting.

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The next day- The Cabin

4:30am-

"Come on Meredith, let's go! If you don't get out of bed right now, my dad and I are going to leave without you." Derek said, pulling the covers off his exhausted fiancé.

"Mmm…. Go… go…" Meredith whined, grabbing for the blanket.

"Come on Meredith! The fish don't sleep late!" Derek said excitedly.

"Fiiinnnee" she moaned as she sat up, rubbing her eyes. She opened her eyes groggily. "What the hell is that?" she mumbled, a hint of a smile on her face.

"What is what?" Derek asked, a huge grin across his face.

"What is on your head." Meredith turns into her pillow and laughs hysterically.

"What? Its my lucky fishing hat! Don't laugh! Don't laugh!" He says as he tickles her to try to get her out of bed.

10:30am- Lake-

"So Meredith, you've never been fishing before?" Derek's father inquired.

"Nope, never in my life. I have always wanted to, it seemed like something relaxing that I'd enjoy. Then I went to med school and 'relaxing' became a thing of the past." Meredith smiled as she cast her line.

"Are you enjoying yourself?" Derek asked as he popped open another beer.

"More fun than I have had in a very long time." Meredith smiles brightly.

"Good." Derek says, leaning in for a small kiss, he sees his father smiling happily from the corner of his eye.

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10:30 am - Meredith and Derek's house-

"Hey Mark, the kids want to go outside, do you want to go out onto the back deck with me, we can watch them playing on the jungle gym." Rebecca says to Mark, who is watching television in the living room after lunch.

"Actually, why don't you let them go out themselves, they'll be fine. They'll know where to find us if they need us." Mark says from his spot on the couch.

"Are you sure? I didn't think Meredith let them play outside alone."

"Nah, they'll be fine. There are no houses for miles around, they know not to go near the water. They are good, they listen. Why don't you come on over here and watch a little television with me?" Mark says, patting the couch seat next to him.

"Ok, I'm just going to put the kid's jackets on them and I'll be right there." Rebecca calls from the kitchen.

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11:00 am- The Lake.

"Mm… this is the best turkey sandwich that I have ever had!" Meredith exclaims.

"Yeah? My dad has a secret sauce that he makes for it." Derek smiled.

"What is it?" Meredith asked Derek's father, sitting next to her.

"If he told you, it wouldn't be a secret. HAHA!" Derek laughed, throwing his head back.

"Actually…" Derek's father said smiling. He leans into Meredith and whispers in his ear. She nods in understanding, a grin spreading across her face.

"Really? That is a great recipe! I never thought of that!" Meredith exclaims, sticking her tongue out at Derek.

"YOU TOLD HER!" Derek exclaims. "You've never told anyone!!"

Derek's father just sticks his tongue out at Derek and laughs.

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12:00pm- Leah's house (Derek's sister)

::Ring, Ring::

"Hello?"

"Peanut? Is that you?" The voice on the other side of the line.

"Mark, is that you? What do you need?" Leah responds.

"Where are Derek and Meredith?" Mark responds.

"They're up at the cabin with mom and dad, why?" Leah responds. "Why? Is there something wrong?"

"Peanut, you have to get them NOW. It's an emergency. Tell them to call me IMMEDIATELY!" Mark starts to panic.

"Mark, what's going on? Mark? Are those ambulance sirens I hear? MARK!"

::Click::

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12:15- Seattle Grace Hospital Emergency Room

"We have a five year old female, multiple fractures in the right arm. Multiple bee stings on her face and upper torso, was responsive until approximately 20 minutes ago, was in full respiratory arrest when the ambulance got there, she was intubated due to the advanced stage of anaphylactic shock. She was found with a dangerously low blood pressure, and it remained low even after the introduction to epinephrine." The paramedic spews out as they are bringing Katie into the Emergency room.

"OH MY GOD! KATIE!" Izzie screams when she sees the gurney being quickly brought into the hospital. She turns and sees Mark rushing into the hospital immediately behind carrying a screaming Matthew.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED!?!!" Izzie demanded.

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12:30pm

Leah tries calling the cabin a twentieth time. "Goddamn it mom, pick up!" she growls into the phone.

"Hello?" A voice from the other line answers.

"MOM!"

"Leah, is that you? What do you need sweetheart?"

"Mom, where is Derek?" Leah says desperately.

"They're out on the lake sweetheart, what's wrong, you seem panicked."

"Mom, I think something happened to one of the kids. Mark called and he was panicked, I heard ambulance sirens. Mom, I'm scared!"

"Oh Dear! They're out on the boat right now, but your father has his walkie talkie, I'll try to get ahold of him. I'll call Mark to see if I can find out what happened." Derek's mother says as she hangs up.

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12:30 pm-

"Dr. Sloane, you're going to have to relax for a second. Dr. Sloane! Someone take this child in for an exam!" The emergency room Doctor on call is screaming, trying to get Mark's attention. He is panicking, running around the emergency room breathing heavy, Matthew clinging to his neck, screaming. Both are covered with welts from bee stings, they are not having an allergic reaction, but are just trying to find where Katie is.

"Where is she? Where is she, tell me she's alright, please! PLEASE!" Mark is screaming, panicking running back and forth. Someone comes up from behind him and attempts to grab Matthew from his arms to calm him and treat him. He swings around and gives them a terrified look as he tries desperately to figure out where they brought Katie. Rebecca comes flying in through the emergency room doors, carrying Jack in his carrier, completely healthy, but screaming in protest to the chaos going on inside the emergency room. Mark hands off Matthew to one of the doctors, trying to reassure him that everything is going to be fine and Mark grabs Rebecca's hand as they follow the doctor into an exam room.

"Dr. Sloane, you need to tell us what happened. You need to tell us. After we know what happened, it will make our job a hell of a lot easier." The Doctor explained. Suddenly the door bursts open and Cristina steps inside, followed by George.

"What the hell happened? Where is she?" Cristina demands.

"Dr. Yang, I'm taking care of it." The emergency room doctor insists.

"No, you are not. Mark, what the HELL happened!" Cristina yells as she lifts Jack from his car seat and rocks him to attempt to calm him.

"Listen, we were out on the deck watching the kids play on the jungle gym. We turned our back for two minutes and the next thing we know, Matthew is screaming and crying that Katherine fell from the monkey bars onto the ground and she's crying. We rushed out there… I mean we rushed over there to see if she was alright and she was lying on the ground covered in bees, screaming bloody murder. There must have been a ground bee nest nearby! Matthew was stung a little, but he was alright and I lifted her and ran to the house as fast as I could. When I got to the house, she started having an intense allergic reaction. She was screaming, crying so loud. She has a broken arm and she was just screaming. It was so heart wrenching!! She started to choke and cough, going into shock. The ambulance got there and she passed out! I don't know how she is. The intubated her and when she got here, they just took her away. Derek is going to kill me. I can't get ahold of him! I tried to call him! I tried! " Mark just screamed, yelling out what happened to anyone who will listen. He falls to his knees sobbing, inconsolable.

"Mark! We're going to treat Matthew right now, give him some medicine to make sure that he doesn't have an allergic reaction, you need a shot too. We will check on Katie and we will let you know her status as soon as we know." Cristina says, trying to calm Mark down. "You need to keep trying to get ahold of Derek or Meredith, Mark. You have to get yourself together! You have to do this for Katie!" Cristina says, as she leaves the room with Jack.

When she is away from the room, she hands Jack to George. "George, bring him down to the nursery. No one can see him unless its me, you, Burke or Izzie, alright? Make sure he's alright." George nods and turns for the elevator. Cristina rushes down the hallway in search of where they are treating Katherine.

Cristina rushes to the room that they quickly brought Katherine into. She stands outside for a moment, trying to hold back the tears that she fears will fall. She takes a deep breath and watches people rushing in and out of the room screaming things. All she can hear is the blood rushing in her head, all sound is muffled by the sound of her beating heart in her ears. She took a deep breath and walked into the room. She was shocked by what she saw. The little girl that Cristina knew, who was so full of life and wonder, was not lying in the bed, she was replaced by this tiny helpless figure, covered in tubes and wires, a machine helping her to breathe, doctors taking blood and monitoring every movement of her frail little body. Her eyes were swollen shut, her body was puffed out in such a grotesque manner that Cristina could hardly look. Her clothes were taken off, she was covered with hives. The doctor was attempting to set her broken arm, doing all he could not to look at the poor helpless thing before him.

Cristina's heart broke as she ran from the room, panicking, she had to find Meredith. But suddenly she is struck by a morbid realization. She knew in her heart, that there was the possibility that Katherine wouldn't make it through the day. She knew that it was possible that this was too much for her tiny body to take, and if anything were to happen, it would be devastating to think that Katie would be alone.

Cristina stopped herself. She stood in the hallway for a moment and composed herself, she took another deep breath and turned around. She walked back into Katie's room and without shedding a tear, she pulled a chair up to the bed. She reached across to Katie's other hand and held the tiny hand in hers. "Come on Katie, you can get through this. Too many people love you."

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12:30 pm- Lake.

"Hello?" Derek's father says into the walkie talkie. "Louise, is that you?"

The voice came crackled over the radio. "Yes, sweetheart, you have to come in right now, there is something going on with the kids." Derek's mom responds.

"What kids?" He responds. Meredith and Derek listen intently.

"Katherine and Jack, Leah got a call from Mark, you need to get here now. There might be a problem." She responded.

Derek and Meredith began to get very nervous. "We'll be right in!" Derek's dad responded, he put the radio down. "Ok guys, hold on to your hats." He said as he turned the motor on the boat and rushed back to the cabin.

"MEREDITH!" Izzie exclaimed as she answered her cell phone.

"Izzie! What is going on?" Meredith said, her voice terse with anticipation, Derek pacing nervously in the background.

"Jack is fine. You don't have to worry about Jack." Izzie started.

"Jack is fine." Meredith sighed, turning to Derek, who stops pacing for a moment, looks over at Meredith and sighs. "What about Katie? Why did Mark call, and why isn't he answering his phone?" Meredith said to Izzie. Derek begins to pace again.

There is a long pause on the other side of the line.

"IZZIE! WHAT ABOUT KATIE?" Meredith screams. Derek runs over to her side and tries to listen to what is going on.

Another long pause. "I SWEAR TO GOD IZZIE! IF YOU DON'T…"

"Meredith, it doesn't look good." Izzie said, her voice beginning to crack.

"What doesn't look good Izzie?" Meredith says, her voice beginning to waver.

Izzie pauses. Derek grabs the phone from Meredith.

"GODDAMN IT IZZIE, SPIT IT OUT! WHAT THE FUCK IS GOING ON OVER THERE!"

"She's in a coma Derek. Katie is in a coma. She was stung by bees after falling off the jungle gym, she had a severe allergic reaction went into anaphylactic shock and now she is in a coma." Izzie begins to sob on the phone. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry!!" Izzie sobs.

Derek just stands there for a moment, stunned. His eyes, widen in fear. He drops the phone to the ground and crumples down next to it, putting his head in hands as he leans against the wall. His mother rushes over to him, trying to get him to tell her what Izzie said, but he is just overtaken by tears. His mother sits next to him and he drops his head into her lap, crying.

Meredith picks up the phone. "Izzie, what did you say to him?" Meredith says, trying to remain calm. "Izzie, what is going on?"


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30—

5:00 pm.

Derek and Meredith's plane lands, and they speed quickly to the hospital. They jump out of the car and rush through the doors, pushing people as they go, they take the steps two at a time and when they reach the top of the stairs, Derek sees Mark sitting in the waiting room with Rebecca, who is holding a sleeping Matthew tightly against her. Mark stands up when he sees Derek burst through the stairway door.

"Derek!" Mark calls out.

"YOU SONOFABITCH! WHERE IS MY BABY?" Derek screams.

"Derek, stop." Meredith grabs his arm.

Derek pushes Meredith off his arm. "NO Meredith, I WILL NOT STOP." He turned to look at Mark. "I AM NOT FINISHED WITH YOU." Derek says, poking his finger into Mark's chest. Derek turns around and sees Cristina slip quickly out of a room down the hallway. She has obviously been crying, but she quickly wipes her tears as she looks around to where she heard Derek's voice. Their eyes lock and Derek runs in her direction. Their eyes never waver. He stops right in front of her.

"Cris, is she?" Derek whispered.

"She's stable." Cristina says. As Derek tries to look around her into the room, she puts her hand on his chest and holds her other hand out to Meredith. "She's stable, but she's still unconscious. She isn't responding to any stimuli, and she's beaten up pretty badly. She has a broken arm and some of the swelling has gone down, but she is still very sick. I haven't left her side since she got here."

Meredith reached out and gave Cristina a big hug. "Thank you, Cristina."

Derek pushed past them and walked into the room. His heart practically stopped when he saw his little girl lying there so helpless and vulnerable. Her hair matted back, her arm all bandaged up, her eyes still swelled with the tubes and the wires sticking out of her body, the whirring and beeping of the machines. The sounds of the respirator helping her breathe. It was too much for him. He turned around and walked out of the room. He closed the door behind him and stood in front of it, blocking Meredith's entry.

"You can't go in there." He whispered.

"What do you mean I can't go in there?" Meredith said quietly.

"You can't. You can't see her like this. You can't." Derek stuttered, breathing heavily.

"Derek, let me see my baby." Meredith said, slowly and evenly.

"No. You can't go in there." Derek responded, tears coming to his eyes.

"Derek. You will move now." Meredith said, glaring into his eyes, her eyes a steel blue.

Derek stared her down for a few seconds, but eventually relented. He stepped aside and she walked in, with him behind her. She didn't pause like Derek did, she did not cry. She simply walked up to the bed and gently caressed the side of Katie's face.

"What happened, baby? What happened my sweet little angel. I love you. I love you my baby, mama is here sweetheart, mama came for you." Meredith whispered, over and over, refusing to let the sobs that threatened her take over.

Derek hovered by the door, not being able to come any closer. She looked so fragile, so broken. "I'll be right back." Derek said as he turned and opened the door, walking out into the hallway.

Derek walked angrily down the hallway, before entering the waiting area, he peeked in and could see Mark sitting with his elbows on his knees, his head in his hands. Rebecca is sitting next to him, holding Matthew, who looks very sad. Derek's face softens when he sees Katherine's friend. He needs to find out what happened. He slowly turns the corner and walks towards them.

Mark stands up quickly and Rebecca stands up next to him. They don't say anything.

"Hey. Do you mind if i talk with Matt for a couple of minutes? I just want to make sure that he knows that i'm not angry at him. I want to explain to him what happened." Derek says, with no emotion in his eyes.

Rebecca looks at him sadly. "Yeah, sure. How is she?" she asks.

Derek bends down to Matthew's level, he looks up at Rebecca, his face blank. "It's not good." He says emotionless. "Matt, would you mind coming to talk to me? We can go see Katie if you want. Are you feeling alright buddy?" Derek asks.

Matt nods, a sad look on his face.

"Come on bud, let's go talk." He stands up and takes Matthew's hand and turns and doesnt look back at Mark or Rebecca as he leads Matthew down the hallway to an empty waiting room.

------------------------

Derek leads Matthew into the waiting room and sits down on one of the chairs. He leads Matthew to stand in front of him.

"Hey buddy. You're pretty sad aren't you?" Derek asks in a soft voice. Matthew nods, his little green eyes sparkling in fear.

"Uncle Der is pretty sad too." Derek said honestly. "Do you think I'm mad at you?" He asked. Matthew nodded his head furiously.

"Now why would I be mad at you?" Derek asked, lifting the little boy onto his lap. "I am not mad at you, let's just start there."

"You're mad cuz Katie is hurt and I couldn't find help." Matthew whispered.

"What do you mean you couldn't find help?" Derek asked, still talking in a soft voice.

"Well… Um… Katie and I were playing outside and when she fell and started to cry, and I ran really fast to find help. Mommy and Daddy were in the house, um.. but the door was locked. I pounded and pounded! They didn't come right away. Katie was crying! Katie was hurt! Those bugs were biting me! It hurt Uncle Derek! It hurt!" Matthew began to cry hysterically. Derek pulled the little boy close into him, rocking him back and forth trying to comfort him.

"No Matty, don't cry, buddy. You saved Katie, Matt. You did a good job buddy. Don't cry." Derek soothed him. Derek could see all of the stings on the little boys body, he felt so awful that he had to be put in the middle of all of this.

The longer he sat there though, the more anger built up inside of him. He tried his best to remain calm while he comforted Matthew. After a few minutes, Matthew's tears began to subside, he began to calm in Derek's arms. He looked up at Derek with his big green eyes, so full of sadness.

"Uncle Der?" He sniffles.

"Yeah buddy?" Derek said, looking down.

"Is Katie going to be alright?" He asked, his eyes never leaving Dereks.

"I don't know buddy, but thank you. Thank you for saving her." Derek says as he pulls Matthew into a hug. "Hey…" Derek says, Matthew looks up at him. "You know what Katie would really love from you?" Derek says.

"What?" Matt says, a hint of a smile on his face at the prospect of making Katie better.

"I think she would love it if you would color her a couple of pictures for her hospital room. I think that it could help to make her feel better." Derek said with a half smile, glad that he could lift Matthew's spirits a little.

"Really?" Matthew asks, jumping from Derek's lap.

"Really. Let's see if your mommy can find you some crayons and some paper down in the nursery. Uncle Derek has to talk to your daddy about something." Derek said as he stood up.

"Great!" Matthew smiled as he took Derek's hand and they walked back to the waiting room.

Derek walked into the waiting room with Matthew, he smiled as Matthew ran to his mother to explain his plan to color Katie some pictures. His face lifted and as soon as his eyes met Marks, his smile faded, his jaw clenched and his eyes turned a deep, angry blue.

Without shifting his stare, he speaks to Rebecca.

"Dr. Randall, I suggest that you take Matthew someplace far away from this room. I am sure that Dr. Sloan will be sharing the remarks that I have for him with you, since you will most likely the one cleaning out his wounds, and I don't think it would be proper to subject Matthew to his screams." Derek says in a low growl.

Rebecca grabs Matthew's hand and starts for the elevator.

"Dr. Randall." Derek growls, she turns to face Derek, who continues his stare down with Mark.

"What is it Derek." She says, her voice quivering.

"Don't think for a minute that I am done with you either." Derek growled.

Rebecca didn't say a word, she just turned and rushed down the hallway with Matthew.

"Mark, please follow me." Derek says, his eyes calming to a cool blue, his demeanor seemingly switched to a less angry mode. Mark has known Derek for most of his life, he knows that this is far from over.

Mark follows Derek down the hallway; this does not go unnoticed by several doctors who are passing by in the hallway. He leads him to the empty waiting room. Derek does not look at him, he just closes the blinds on the windows. Mark closes the door behind him and walks over to the side of the room, pretending he is looking at a picture on the wall. Derek walks to the window in the room, it looks down on the parking lot, so there isn't much to look at, but he seems content staring out.

"Mark?" Derek starts, his voice quiet and steady.

"Yes Derek?" Mark replied, coolly.

"Mark, do you know what the chances of her waking up are?" Derek whispered.

"No." Mark replied.

"Her chances of waking up are twenty percent, did you know that?" Derek asks, his voice still quiet and steady. "Mark, tell me what happened today." Derek said simply.

"Well, uh. Rebecca and I were outside on the deck and we were talking and…." Mark started.

"Mark." Derek raised his voice a bit as he slowly turns around to look at Mark. He walks towards the door as if he wants to make sure that Mark will not leave. "You see Mark. Its funny that you should mention that" Derek said, wagging his finger, his eyes becoming an intense indigo blue. "Because when I talked to Matthew, I found the beginning of the story to be very different."

"What?" Mark asked, feigning ignorance. "Why? What did he tell you?" Mark asked as a look of fear flashed across his face before being replaced again with a look of ignorance.

"Well Mark. He claims that when Katie fell from the jungle gym, that neither you nor Rebecca could be found. He said that you were in the house and the door was locked. Now, is there any reason for him to be lying about this?"

"Uh.. uh." Mark stumbled.

"Hmm, that's what I thought." Derek said with a sneer as he took one step closer to Mark. "Gee Mark, why would the door be locked? Hmm?? Let me see, it was probably something that you didn't want two, five-year olds to walk in on. Let me see, what would you not want two five year olds to see?" Derek said, putting his finger on his head, as if to pretend he's thinking.

"I know!" Derek said, putting his finger in the air and stepping closer to Mark. "You were watching a scary movie and you didn't want them to see it! Nope…" Derek shook his head. "Nope, you could just pause it if they come in the house. I got it!" Derek said, taking another small step closer to Mark. "You didn't know the door was locked! Yeah… the door just locked when the door closed! That's pretty interesting since all we have on our house doors are PADLOCKS!" Derek yelled, making Mark jump.

"I GOT IT MARK! I know why the door was locked!" Derek growled, getting right into Mark's face.

"The door was locked because you were FUCKING YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" Derek screams as he takes his forearm and pushes it against Mark's neck, pinning him up against the wall and smashing the glass on the picture on the wall against Mark's head.

"YEAH MARK! YOU WERE FUCKING YOUR GIRLFRIEND IN **MY** HOUSE WHILE **MY** BABY LAY OUTSIDE DYING!" Derek screamed, pushing his forearm harder and harder against Mark's neck. Mark tried to struggle, but every time he moved, Derek would push him harder against the wall. "How does that feel Mark? How does it feel to be having the breath squeezed out of your lungs? HUH!! HOW DOES IT FEEL??"

"THAT IS HOW MY LITTLE GIRL FELT WHEN YOU WERE IN MY HOUSE FUCKING YOUR GIRLFRIEND!" Derek pushes harder, and then releases his grasp on Mark just a little, enough to let him breathe. His eyes are filled with terror as he begins to cough. "Well Mark." Derek growls. "You aren't going to be fucking anything for a VERY LONG TIME." Derek swiftly brings his knee up and kicks Mark in the groin. Mark doubles over onto the ground, coughing and groaning.

"Mark, your girlfriend wasn't the only person you were screwing today when you locked that door. You screwed me" Derek kicks him in the leg. "You screwed Meredith" he kicks him again. "AND YOU SCREWED KATHERINE!" Derek kicks him very hard. Mark just lay on the ground cowering.

Meredith steps out of Katie's room for a moment looking for Derek. She walks down the hallway and sees a crowd of doctors and nurses near a closed waiting room trying to listen.

"What's going on?" She asked one of the nurses.

"Dr. Shepherd just took Dr. Sloan into the waiting room, we think they're arguing." The nurse replied.

"OH MY GOD! HE'S GOING TO KILL HIM!" Meredith screamed as she pushed her way through the crowd.

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"And your little girlfriend? She isn't going to get off that easy either." Derek growled at the recoiled doctor on the ground in front of him. "Nope, when I get through with you, I may just report you both for negligence. You left TWO five-year olds unattended with the DOORS LOCKED on a property with a jungle gym, a pond, woods. Mark, what the hell were you THINKING!" Derek screamed, making Mark jump a little. He swung back his leg preparing to kick him again.

Suddenly the door flew open and Meredith ran inside. "OH MY GOD DEREK! What did you do?" Meredith said as she bent down to see if Mark was alright.

Derek stepped back, his eyes still dark with hatred. "What do you mean what did I do?" Derek said, he stepped forward and grabbed Meredith's shoulder lightly, she stood up and stared into his eyes. "Don't you help that babykiller Meredith! Don't you even look at him!" Derek said desparately, tears beginning to form in his eyes as they lighten upon seeing hers.

"Derek, you need to sit down." Meredith said, holding his shoulders, looking him in the eyes.

"I don't need to sit down Meredith." He said tiredly. "I need my baby." Derek whispered as he turned and walked out the door.

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"Mark, what the hell happened?" Meredith said as she stood over him.

"What does it look like Meredith, he kicked the shit out of me." Mark said, attempting to get up, wincing in pain.

"You're bleeding!" Meredith exclaimed as she touched the back of his head and felt the warm blood oozing from the cuts. "Can we get someone in here to help him, instead of just standing there staring like a bunch of morons?" Meredith said. A nurse steps forward to assess the damage Derek had done to Mark. "I'm going to go find him." Meredith says as she turns and walks out of the room.

Meredith walked quickly down the hallway to Katherine's room. She slowly opened the door and looked at the chair in the room. It was empty. She opened the door completely and stepped in so that she could see the bed. She found him there lying on the edge of Katherine's bed, his head next to hers on the pillow and he is gently caressing her cheek.

"Derek?" Meredith says, stepping into the room. Its then she hears his voice. He is gently singing Katie's song to her, tears gently falling from his eyes onto the pillow beneath his head.

Derek sees Meredith walk into the room and lifts his head up. "Shh… she's sleeping." Derek whispers as he lies his head back down on the pillow and continues to sing to her.

Meredith steps forward towards the bed. She moves to the side of the bed. "Derek! We have to talk." She says quietly.

Derek lifts his head up off the pillow and looks at her, his eyes narrow. "Shut up Meredith. You have that prick's blood on your shirt. Don't talk to us. Just go, go be with him if you care so goddamned much." Derek whispers and lays his head back on the pillow and continues to sing and caress her face.

Meredith scoffs at his attitude and turns around to change her shirt and check on Jack.


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31-

Two days later, Meredith sits in the hospital cafeteria; it is obvious that she hasn't slept in days. Her hair is a mess, her eyes have bags under them and she has not put on any makeup, it also looks like she hadn't eaten in days.

"You look like shit Meredith." Cristina says, sitting down at the table next to her.

"Thanks. Thanks a lot." Meredith replied, putting her elbows on the table and rubbing her temple with her fingers.

"Has there been any change?" Cristina asks. She knows that there hasn't been, she just needs to ask.

"No, no change. She is still on the respirator, her blood pressure is still too low. There is no indication of reaction to stimuli. Her swelling has gone down, she's almost looking normal, except for the sores from the stings." Meredith responds, trying to sound unaffected, when in reality it breaks her heart to talk about her daughter's condition. "I have that on my shoulders, not to mention that Jack is teething, he has been miserable, both of my babies are in pain and there is nothing I can do about it." Meredith sighs sadly.

"How about….?" Cristina asked, there was no need to finish the sentence, Meredith knew who she was talking about.

"He is awful. He won't talk to me, he won't look at me. He keeps demanding things in a low whisper. He hardly leaves her room. I had to force him to go home yesterday, but he was there for twenty minutes, packed up a bunch of her stuff and brought it into the hospital. He won't talk to anyone except Jack when I bring him in. He won't eat, he won't sleep, he's like a ghost." Meredith said quietly. "I don't know what to do."

Cristina put her hand on her friend's shoulder in support and tried to reassure her that everything was going to be alright.

Suddenly, they hear the stomping of a very angry person coming up behind them. "THERE YOU ARE!" He yelled loudly, making Meredith almost jump out of her chair.

Meredith spun around and was immediately confronted by a red faced Mark Sloan, his anger was boiling over and his eyes were on fire, the bruises across his neck and the cut on his head were obvious reminders of what Derek had done to him. "Where the hell is that NO GOOD SONOFABITCH?" He yelled in Meredith's face.

"What do you mean Mark? Derek? I don't know, he's probably in Katie's room, why? What happened?" Meredith said, standing up, confused and tired of all of the yelling.

"Nothing Meredith, NOTHING happened." Mark growled as he turned around to find Katherine's room. Meredith got up and followed him as he stomped angrily down the hallway. "Where IS HE?" Mark screamed.

Meredith tried to remain caught up to him as he angrily stomped down the hallway. "Mark, what's going on? MARK!!" Meredith tried to get his attention. Mark just ignored her and found his way to Katherine's room. He swung the door open to reveal Derek, sitting by Katie's bedside, holding her hand and talking to her. He stood up as soon as the door swung open.

"What the…" Derek said surprised, his eyes immediately changing from concern to rage. "Get the hell out of here." Derek said in a low voice.

"WHAT DO YOU MEAN GET OUT OF HERE! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Mark screamed as he walked up to Derek, putting their faces just inches apart.

"If you do not get out of my daughter's room, I will kill you right here and right now." Derek said in a low even tone.

"If you want to talk to me, you talk to me outside of this room, do you hear me, you will NOT bring negativity into this room. You can kick the shit out of me if you want to try, but you will do it outside of this room, you will not bring her down further than you already have." Derek says, his eyes never leaving Mark's. Meredith is standing in the doorway watching the face off, she steps aside as the two men walk out into the hallway.

Derek leads the way and they go down the hallway towards the nurses station, the two men enter an empty exam room and Meredith follows them in.

"Alright, now what the hell is your problem?" Derek said, a look of rage still clearly spread across his face, but his voice remained even and steady.

"You had them take him!" Mark said angrily. "They took our little boy away from us!"

"What? You are an unfit parent Mark. You deserved it. Matthew deserves better. What you did warrants an investigation." Derek says, matter of factly.

"Derek! You called Social services?" Meredith exclaimed.

"DAMN STRAIGHT!" Derek growled, not looking at her. "I want him to know what it is like to lose a child. He put her in danger, he hurt her."

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Mark says as he rushes at Derek. Derek rushes at Mark and Meredith runs over and tries to push Mark back.

"STOP IT STOP IT STOP IT!" Meredith screams. The two men back off and just stare at one another, their eyes blazing with intense hatred.

"Derek, why in the hell would you call social services, it was an accident. I know you're hurt and angry, but you can't keep blaming Mark and Rebecca for this! There is only so much they could do." Meredith exclaimed tiredly.

"Meredith, I told you what happened! I told you that he locked the door! Why won't you believe me! They could have saved her, there could have been time! Why are you defending him?? Why are you DEFENDING HIM?" Derek screamed in desperation.

Meredith walked up to Derek and got in his face. "Derek, STOP THIS! STOP with all the anger! STOP IT! You don't think I am angry? YOU DON'T THINK THIS IS KILLING ME INSIDE? Being angry isn't going to solve anything and taking Matthew away from his parents isn't going to solve anything!"

"Yes it will, he needs to know how it feels! HE NEEDS TO KNOW!" Derek screamed.

"DEREK! HOW THE HELL DO YOU THINK I FEEL? I am the one that had to RAISE that little girl BY MYSELF! While you were out GALAVANTING AROUND THE WORLD! I AM THE ONE THAT RAISED HER DEREK, NOT YOU!" Meredith screamed with an intensity the Derek had never seen before.

Before Derek could think twice about it, he swung his arm back and slapped Meredith across the face. He slapped her so hard that her head swung to the side as she flew backwards onto the ground, a red hand mark across her cheek. Mark tried to catch her, and rushed to her side when she landed, her hand on her cheek a stunned look across her face.

He bent down slightly as he looked at her with an intense anger. "GO TO HELL MEREDITH!! GO TO FUCKING HELL!" He screamed and stomped out of the exam room. He turned around and looked down at her one last time. "AND DONT YOU EVEN THINK OF COMING INTO MY DAUGHTER'S ROOM!" He screamed as he stomped down the hallway.

--------------------------

11:45pm

Meredith stayed away from Derek for the rest of the afternoon. She was in complete shock that Derek had hit her and yelled at her that way. She talked with Cristina and she told her that Derek had locked the door and placed note on the door that said that no one could enter the room without his consent. Meredith spent some time with Jack and went home for a couple of hours to cool off and to take a refreshing shower. After her shower, she called Cristina to come watch Jack for a couple of hours and went back to the hospital.

Preston led Meredith down the hallway to Katherine's room and she peeked in. She could see her little girl, lying on the bed, the machines moving with every pained breath that she takes. The room is in darkness, but it is lit dimly by the moon. She can see Derek sitting uncomfortably on one of the hospital chairs, sound asleep. His head back, his mouth agape, his legs stretched out in front of him as he hangs uncomfortably off the chair.

"You guys didn't get him a bed?" Meredith whispers to Preston.

"No, he asked, but we said they were all full. Let him sit on that uncomfortable chair a while, after what happened this afternoon. Don't you be getting soft on me here." Preston whispered back.

"I'm not getting soft!" she whispered back. "I just hate seeing him uncomfortable."

"Mer, I have a feeling that he's going to be a little more than uncomfortable when you get done with him." Preston laughed.

"Yeah, well let 'me' be the one to make him feel that way." She smiles a weak smile.

"You ready?" Preston whispers.

"Yeah." Meredith whispers back.

"I'll be right out here." Preston whispers as he unlocks the door to Katie's room. Meredith nods.

Meredith quietly slips into the room, Derek is snoring softly from his chair. Meredith quietly walks over to Katie's bedside and runs her hand down Katie's arm to her hand, wincing as she feels the little bumps from the bee stings that had gotten her here in this mess. She reached up and brushed the hair away from her forehead as she dropped a kiss on her little angel's brow. When she lifted her head, she noticed something sparkling in the moonlight hanging over her bed.

She reached her hand out and touched it. It was the little angel Christmas ornament that Derek had bought her for Christmas. He had carefully fastened it to the wall above her bed. Meredith's heart melted at the gesture as she thought about how happy Katie had been to get that very special gift from her daddy.

Her Daddy. That is all she used to talk about from the moment she could talk was her daddy. Her room was filled with plastic ferry boats and pretty blue flowers. She would always ask everyone what her daddy was like. She had her book, filled to the brim with reminders of who he was. Her daddy was kind, her daddy was sweet. Her daddy was romantic. Her daddy liked the color blue, her daddy liked ferry boats. Meredith sometimes felt left out, but it made Katie-bug happy.

Then, Derek came back, and suddenly Katie's world lit up even brighter. He made her smile brighter and more often than Meredith had ever seen. She was his little girl, and that was fine, but he is not going to get away with talking to her the way he did today.

Meredith glanced up from where she was standing at Katie's bedside and she watched Derek sleep. She could tell by the look on his face that it was a fitful sleep. He was not comfortable in the least.

Meredith stepped over to his chair and stood on the side of him contemplating exactly how she was going to wake him up. She thought of kneeing him in his groin, it was Cristina's suggestion, but she thought that if she wanted to yell at him, he wouldn't be paying attention to her, he'd be more worried about the pain.

So, with that in mind, she lifted her foot, yelled "HEY!" for him to lift his head up, and swiftly kicked the back of the chair, sending Derek flying backwards onto the floor.

"Uh un, Who? What the hell was that for?" Derek said as his chair smashes to the floor with him on it.

Meredith kicks the chair out from under him and switches on the lights. "What the hell do you mean. 'what the hell was that for?' ?" Meredith said in a low, angry voice. Standing over Derek, who is now lying on the floor on his back.

"Meredith, you could have seriously injured me." Derek says, attempting to sit up, still obviously sleepy.

Meredith pushes him back down and stands above him, straddling his body.

"Oh yeah? I didn't seriously injure you? Do you want me to try again?" Meredith snapped as she dug one of her heels into his chest. "Don't move. I get to say my piece." Meredith said with fire in her eyes.

"You listen to me and you listen to me good! I will not yell in this room, but if you say anything… ANYTHING out of turn, I will make sure you run out of this room screaming like a girl. Are we understood?" Meredith says in a low even tone. Derek nods.

"You, Derek Shepherd, will never speak to me the way that you did today. You will not keep me from seeing OUR daughter. You will listen to me when I speak, and you will answer me when I ask a question." Meredith says, still standing. She gets down on her knees and straddles his chest, she gets right down in his face and puts her face a couple of inches from his and stares straight into his eyes.

"I will not stand another moment of anger from you, I will not stand another nasty word, gesture, sound, grunt, growl, anything. You will be nice, you will be pleasant and you will help me through this, the same way that I will be helping you. You have every right to be angry. You have every right to be sad, but if you ever, EVER lay a hand on me in anger again, I will make sure that Jack is the last child that you ever conceive, is THAT understood?" Derek just lies there, looking intently into her eyes. Meredith moves her knee to his groin. "I SAID… is that understood?" Meredith growled.

Derek nodded and Meredith sat up, still straddling his chest. "Now get up and go sleep in an on call room! I'm going to spend some time with our baby!" Meredith says standing up. Meredith was just about to step away from him when he put his hand on her leg.

"Meredith?" He whimpered.

She looked down at him, his lost and lonely blue eyes filled with tears. Her heart breaking seeing him this way. She gave him a questioning glance.

"I'm sorry." He whispered, turning his gaze from hers, tears falling down the side of his face.

"I know. Here, let me help you up." Meredith said, reaching out for his hand. He stood up and looked over at her. It was the first time he had really looked in her eyes since all of this had happened. He could see then that she was hurting just as much as he was. He reached for her, praying that she wouldn't pull him away and was surprised and elated when she welcomed him into her arms for a hug. "Please don't go." She mumbled into his shoulder. "Please stay here with us. I love you." Meredith says, pulling away and looking deep in his eyes. "We love you." Meredith whispered and embraced him once again.

-------------------------

The next day, there was a marked improvement in Derek's attitude. He spoke with Meredith, though it was only in small sentences and he remained polite. He still refused to leave Katie's bedside except to take a shower or change. Three more days have gone by, it has been a total of five now that Katherine has been in this coma. There has been no sign of improvement and Derek continues to become more and more depressed. The sixth day was when Meredith tried to pry Derek away from her bedside. Derek was sitting at her bedside, with her favorite children's book, reading it aloud to her, when Meredith walked into the room.

"Come on Derek, let's go out someplace. You can't keep doing this to yourself! It has almost been a week. You need to at least step outside." Meredith said, reaching for his hand. "Let's go for a walk."

He shoos her hand away and continues to read.

"Derek. You're not answering me." Meredith said in a warning tone.

Derek looked up at her. "Why don't you just go away. Can't you see I'm doing something?" Derek said in a less than nice tone.

"What did you just say to me?" Meredith said, stepping up to him.

"I said go away." Derek repeated.

"Goddamn it Derek, stop acting like this." Meredith said, ripping the book from his hands.

Derek stands up and gives her a dirty look. "You know something Meredith, sometimes you can really make me hate you." He says calmly as he turns and walks out the door.

-------------------------

Meredith watches him leave. She is not at all surprised at what he said, she knows that he is depressed and that he is just trying to test her emotions. She waits a couple seconds and walks out of the door.

She sees him walking down the hallway to the elevator she sees him talking to one of the doctors as he waits for it, she sees him smile just a little and she immediately knows where he is going and it makes her smile to think about it.

-------------------------

Derek walks into the nursery and over to the playpen that Jack is standing up in, he grins from ear to ear, puts his hands up to be picked up and begins chattering "dadadada". Derek smiles and lifts him up and carries him over to the nap corner.

"Hey dude. What's up with you?" Derek asks as he sets him down on one of the nap rugs.

"So, what were we talking about the last time daddy was here? Oh yeah, we were talking about what kind of cool thing we're going to be able to do together when you start walking." Derek says as he tickled Jack with his favorite stuffed bear.

"Oh… how is your big sister? Well, she's doing good. She's doing better and better every day Jack. Soon she'll be all better and you two will be running around driving your mommy and me crazy!" Derek laughed as he lay on his back, holding Jack up in the air making him giggle.

"I love your laugh, do you know that?" Derek said, tickling the little boy. "You look just like your mommy when you giggle. Her nose wrinkles up like that and she has that little snort that she's so self conscious about, you're looking more and more like her every day!" Derek said with a smile. "Your daddy loves you so much, he's so sorry that he's been so grumpy lately. I said something mean to your mama and now I think I'm in big trouble. You'll defend me right? You'll tell her that I'm just a sad little boy stuck in a man's body. Right?" Derek says as he sets the little boy down on his tummy. He immediately begins to crawl away, giggling the whole time.

"Oh! So you think you can get away that easily, huh?" Derek says getting on his hands and knees and crawling after him. "Hey, you…. Get back here!" he laughs as he scoops up the baby and begins to tickle him again.

Meredith watched from behind the glass, and seeing the smile on Derek's face reassured her that he was still the love of her life, he was still her McDreamy, and he'd always be the best daddy.


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32-

The next day, Derek was in Katie's room all alone cutting out construction paper moons to hang on the wall, talking to her about just about anything, when Preston came to the door.

"Derek, we need you for a minute." He said as he opened the door a little.

Derek looked up at his friend and could see the worry on his face. "What is it Preston?" Derek said as he stood up.

"Just follow me." Preston said as he stepped outside the door. Derek got up and followed Preston down the hallway to the conference room. Inside the conference room Meredith was seated, with an empty seat beside her, also present were two of Katie's doctors.

----------------------

Derek took one look around at those at the table. "Absolutely not." He whispered, and stepped back out into the hallway.

Derek began walking down the hallway and Meredith got up and began to chase after him. "Derek! We have to do this!" She called desperately.

"We have to do what Meredith? We have to kill our baby? Is that what you want?" Derek said angrily, not caring who heard him.

"No Derek. We have to try this. We have to try to get her off the ventilator. If we can wean her onto a CPAP machine, we'll know if she can breathe on her own. If she can breathe on her own, then she has a better chance of waking up, you know that!" Meredith explains

"You know as well as I do what that means Meredith. If she cannot breathe on her own, then there is no way of knowing if its going to get any better. If she can't breathe on her own, she could die. I'm not ready to do that Meredith, I'm not ready."

"Derek, her blood pressure is good. Her color is back to normal, if we don't do this, we're only inhibiting her. We need to know, Derek. We need to know." Meredith said, trying so hard not to cry.

"I'm not ready Meredith. I'm not ready to do this. Why am I the only one that thinks that she can make it through this? Why am I the only one crying and getting angry about this. Is ANYONE ELSE ANGRY MEREDITH?" Derek said between gritted teeth. "Meredith, I am so scared."

Derek turned around to walk back to Katie's room and he almost ran right into George, who was standing behind him. He turned to the right and Cristina was standing there, Izzie was right there too, listening to every word of their conversation, a look of fear and concern on their faces. Burke comes out of the conference room and walks over to Derek, he puts his hand on his shoulder and looks him in the eyes. 

"Derek. You're not alone."

----------------------

Katherine had been on a ventilator for a week. Her tiny body seemed to be fighting off the allergens that had taken over her body, but there was no telling what type of damage that her brain had sustained from lack of oxygen. There was no telling if she would be able to breathe on her own. Derek dreaded finding out these things, but he knew that if she was going to get better, they had to take some calculated risk. Derek sat at her bedside all morning telling her about what they were going to do with the ventilator.

"Baby… your mama and daddy are going to be here through the whole thing sweetheart. Don't you worry a bit. Bubbles told me to tell you that he is very proud of you and that he can't wait to play with you again. He said that you're the best big sister that he could ever ask for. Mommy and daddy are going to give you lots of ice cream when you get better, you just wait and see!" Derek whispered into her ear.

At quarter past noon, Dr. Neilson entered the room, followed by Dr. Burke and Meredith. Meredith had been briefed numerous times about how the procedure was going to work and she had to sign some consent forms. "It looks like Katherine has quite the fan club out there." Dr. Neilson remarks with a smile at the numerous doctors and nurses anxiously awaiting the CPAP test.

Derek and Meredith stand on either side of the bed and hold one another's hand across Katie as they await the doctor's preparation.

"It's alright Katie, the doctor is going to help you sweetheart. Mommy and daddy are right here. We love you baby." Meredith whispered, looking into Derek's eyes as the doctor prepares to pull her off the ventilator.

Derek and Meredith watch as the Doctor checks the intake on the ventilator and carefully lift the ventilator tube from the tube in Katie's throat. At this point it could go either way. If she can breathe on her own, they will put her on the CPAP machine to monitor her breathing until it is regulated. If she does not breathe on her own, her heart rate will increase and they will be forced to replace the ventilator tube.

Derek and Meredith hold their breaths as the ventilator is removed, all eyes are on the little girls chest. They stand there and watch for thirty seconds…Nothing. Meredith and Derek look at each other with terror in their eyes.

----------------------

Derek and Meredith held their breath as the ventilator was removed, all eyes were on the little girls chest. They stand there and watch for thirty seconds…Nothing. Meredith and Derek look at each other with terror in their eyes.

After thirty more seconds, Doctor Neilson steps forward with the ventilator tube. He gives Meredith and Derek a disappointed glance as he lifts it up.

"No! Doctor. Wait." Derek said.

"Derek." Meredith warned.

"Meredith, she can do this." Derek said quietly as they watched her intently.

"Dr. Shepherd, I am going to have to replace the ventilator." Dr. Neilson said.

"No, Doctor, give her another couple of seconds." Derek said softly.

Suddenly, Katherine's chest began to rise and fall in steady breaths. Derek and Meredith looked at one another in surprise and a euphoric grin spread across both of their faces.

"I told you she could do it!" Derek laughed as he bent down and gave Katherine a kiss on the forehead. The doctor began to monitor her breaths, remove the ventilator tubes and attach the CPAP as Derek went to the door.

"Derek." Meredith said in a warning tone. Derek turned to look at her. "This is good news Derek, but she still has a long way. She still has to wake up." Meredith said.

Derek nodded knowingly. "I know Mer, but let's celebrate this baby step, please?"

Meredith watched him, he was happier than she had seen him in days. "Yeah Derek, we can celebrate it." Meredith said as she took a step towards the door with Derek. They both looked over at Katie and smiled as they looked at one another and walked out the door to the nervous crowd of friends that waited outside.

----------------------

May 8th

Katherine has been off the ventilator for two days. It has been nine days since the accident and she is still not reacting to any outside stimuli. Derek rests in her room, sitting on the chair next to her bed. Her hospital room walls were covered with paper hearts and moons with notes from well wishers throughout the hospital and from her Nana and Pops in New York. Derek had tacked up several pictures that Matthew had mailed to them, and every night before he would go to sleep on the chair beside her bed, Derek would read to her from her 'daddy book'.

Meredith decided to go back to work the day after Katie was taken off the ventilator, she felt that working would keep her worries at bay, and she stopped into Katie's room whenever she had a free second. When other visitors came to see Katie, Derek would leave and visit with Jack, take him outside into the warm spring air and tell him about all of the adventures that they were going to have, it was his one true escape from the worries that plagued him.

This night, Derek lay his head on Katie's bedside to rest before going to find Meredith for dinner, before he knew it, he had fallen asleep.

Upstairs, Meredith steps out of surgery and nearly knocks over a doctor coming in the opposite direction.

"Oh. Excuse me." Meredith says, looking down at the doctor picking up the papers. The doctor stands up and Meredith is face to face with Dr. Randall.

"Uh…I'm sorry." Rebecca says as she stands up and starts to walk in the opposite direction.

"Dr. Randall!" Meredith calls, Rebecca turns around, a look of sorrow on her face.

"Rebecca, can we talk?" Meredith asked quietly.

"Um… are you sure?" Rebecca replied.

"Yeah, if you have a second, let's go get some coffee." Meredith replied.

"Um…Ok." the two women walk down the hallway towards the elevator.

----------------------

"_Daddy! Look at all the flutter bys!" Katie exclaimed._

"Yep, those butterflies sure are pretty today aren't they Katie-bug?" Derek laughed as Katie ran through the flowers in the side yard in her little pink sundress with the little green flowers across it.

"Daddy! Look! This blue one landed on my finger!" She smiles proudly as she holds up the butterfly on her finger, her blue eyes sparkling brightly in the sunshine as the butterfly lifts off her finger and flutters off..

"Wow! You really are a lucky girl!" Derek smiled as he picked her up and tossed her in the air, listening to her giggle. He carefully set her down onto the ground, her bare feet touching the cool grass and watch her run about.

"Katie! Don't go too far!" Derek called, as the back yard seemed to be getting longer and Katie seemed to be getting farther away.

"I won't daddy! I'll come back!" Katie giggled as she ran around in the flowers.

"Katie! You're too far away! Katie!" Derek called.

"Bye Daddy!" Katie called as she disappeared out of sight.

"KATIE!" Derek screamed.

Suddenly Derek was startled awake by the sounds of the machines in Katie's room going off. Her heart monitor was going wild and her breathing was becoming shallow. Her lips were starting to turn blue.


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33-

Meredith sits down with Rebecca in the cafeteria, both with a cup of coffee. Meredith has a thoughtful look on her face and Rebecca is very nervous, her green eyes darting around the room trying to avoid eye contact.

"They took Matthew." Rebecca whispered.

"I heard. Have you talked to him?" Meredith replied.

"Yeah. They let me visit him twice a week, an hour at a time." Rebecca said, staring into her coffee. She pauses for several seconds before she speaks again. "I didn't know he locked the door, Meredith." Rebecca said, lifting her head, her eyes full of tears. "I am so sorry." She said as tears streamed down her face. "You trusted me, and I let you down. I let Katie down." She begins to sob, putting her coffee cup down and burying her face in her hands.

"I know. I know." Meredith said, pulling the sobbing woman in her arms, letting her nurturing side take over for a couple minutes.

"Rebecca." Meredith said, trying to get her attention. She sits up and wipes her nose on her napkin as she looks at Meredith. "Would you like to see her?" Meredith whispered.

"Yes. I would. This is hurting me so much inside. I haven't spoken to Mark since it happened, I don't even care where he is. I just need her to be better, I need her to come back. Every time I visit Matthew, he asks about her. He loves her so much. I love her so much" She begins to cry again.

Just as Meredith begins to say something, her pager goes off. She looks at it. "SHIT! Its Katie! Its 911!" Meredith yells as she jumps from her chair and takes off running, Rebecca runs after her.

-----------------------

Meredith runs into Katie's room at full speed. Derek is in complete 'doctor mode', barking out orders to the nurses as they attempt to stabilize Katie.

"What's happening?" Meredith screams, breathless from running. The action in the room makes Meredith suddenly feel dizzy.

Derek turns his head and sees Rebecca hovering in the hallway. "What is she doing in here?" He barks as they work on Katie further, hooking her to the ventilator.

Before she can answer, Meredith falls to the floor unconscious.  
"MEREDITH!" Derek yells, helpless as she falls to the floor. He looks between Katie and Meredith for a quick second. "SOMEONE GET HELP!" Derek screams as Rebecca runs into the room to Meredith as Derek continues to try to assess what exactly happened to Katie. Rebecca holds Meredith in her arms as one of the nurses runs to get help for Meredith. Derek looks as if the whole world around him is falling down before him, he attaches the ventilator to Katie and the machine begins to stabilize her breathing, her blood pressure has dropped dramatically. Throughout the whole ordeal with Katie, watches as Meredith lay unconscious on the floor.

"She's breathing Derek, she's going to be alright. I think its exhaustion, she is probably dehydrated." Rebecca tries her best to comfort him as the gurney comes in. "Derek, I'm going with her, you take care of Katie!" Rebecca says as they lift Meredith onto the gurney and hurry down the hallway. He then turns his complete attention to Katherine. Her blood pressure begins to rise and her body begins to warm again. The color slowly comes back to her face as the ventilator does her breathing once again. Derek sighs in frustration as he takes a step back. He turns to one of the nurses.

"You will stay in this room, you will not move. If that machine so much as beeps funny, you will call me, page me, send out a smoke signal, but you will find me, do you understand?" Derek said to her. The nurse nodded as Derek took off towards the door. He turned just as he got to the door. "Hey." The nurse turned around. "Thank you." He said. She smiled as he left the room.

-----------------------

Derek ran quickly down the hallway. "Where'd they take her?" He calls as the nurse point down the hallway. He runs into the room where Meredith is. Rebecca is standing over the bed, she steps forward.

"Derek! She is alright, she is just very dehydrated right now. They're giving her fluids and she needs to rest. Her body is so weak from not sleeping or eating well." Rebecca says.

The doctor in the room walks up to Derek. "Dr. Shepherd, we need to talk."  
Derek ran quickly down the hallway. "Where'd they take her?" He calls as the nurse point down the hallway. He runs into the room where Meredith is. Rebecca is standing over the bed, she steps forward.

"Derek! She is alright, she is just very dehydrated right now. They're giving her fluids and she needs to rest. Her body is so weak from not sleeping or eating well." Rebecca says.

The doctor in the room walks up to Derek. "Dr. Shepherd, we need to talk."

"I need to see her." Derek replied.

"Just a moment, She's fine right now, she just fainted. We put her on fluids and right now she needs to sleep. I need to talk to you about Dr. Grey's condition."

"What condition?" Derek responds.

"Dr. Shepherd, when was the last time you saw Meredith eat something?"

"Eat something?"

"Yes. Eat something. When was the last time you saw her give herself some source of nourishment." The doctor said.

"You don't have to be an ass. I don't know when the last time she ate something." Derek responded.

"How about drinking, has she had anything to drink? Sleeping? Dr. Shepherd, Meredith is in very bad shape. She hasnt gotten any sleep or any type of nourishment for days. I understand that your daughter is in the hospital and is very sick, but I suggest that maybe you take a little time out of your pity party for your daughter and take care of your fiance, unless you want her to end up in the hospital too." The Doctor said as he turned and walked back into the room.

Derek just stood in the hallway speechless.

-----------------------

Derek walked into the room without talking to anyone and he walked over to Meredith's bed. The doctor checked to make sure that the fluids were being dispensed properly and he left the room. Rebecca stood on the other side of Meredith, holding her hand as Derek walked up to the other side of the bed and took her other hand.

"Thank you, Rebecca." Derek said softly, as he gently placed his hand on the side of Meredith's face and moved a stray piece of hair. "Thank you for taking care of her." Derek whispered. Rebecca knew what he meant. She walked to the other side of the bed and looked up at Derek, she placed her hand on the hand that held Meredith's.

"I'm sorry." She whispered.

Derek looked at her with tears in his eyes, "I know. I'm sorry too." Derek said, looking into her eyes. After several seconds, Rebecca broke her glance.

"Um… I should probably get going, I'll check in on her later, if that's alright with you." Rebecca said quietly.

"That'll be fine Rebecca, thank you." Derek whispered.

-----------------------

Derek sat by Meredith's bedside for an hour, waiting for her to wake up. Derek watched her sleep quietly and when he saw her begin to stir, sat up in the chair and reached his hand out to her.

"Hey sleepyhead." Derek said in a low voice. "Who said you could sleep on the job?"

"What happened?" She said groggily, talking about herself, and then suddenly remembered that something had happened before she fainted. "What happened!" she said more urgently as she tried to sit up.

Derek stood up and put his hand on her shoulder to try to calm her. "Don't worry, everything is fine, you fainted." Derek said as she lay back down on her pillow. Derek bent down and gave her a kiss on her forehead.

"What about Katie, you paged me, you were doing something in there, what happened?" Meredith demanded.

"Ok, ok… slow down." Derek said quietly as he tried to soothe her. "Katie is fine right now, she had a little bit of respiratory distress, but she's fine. Her blood pressure dropped a little too low and she stopped breathing for just a moment, she is just fine now. There is a nurse in there right now making sure that I know just what is going on. We put her on the ventilator again, we'll take it off in a day or two to try again, when she's a little stronger." Derek reassured her.

"I should probably go see her." Meredith said as she tried to get up. 

Derek pushed her lightly back down onto the bed. "You are not going anywhere." Derek said seriously.

"What do you mean I'm not going anywhere? I have to go check on my baby. I'm working, I have to go back to work." Meredith replied.

"Listen, Dr. Grey, you are not going anywhere, not now, not this evening, most likely not tomorrow or the next day. You are going to lie down on that bed right now and you are going to go back to sleep. You are going to wake up in several hours and dinner will be brought to you. If you would like to see Katie, you will page me and I will come and I will get a wheelchair and escort you down the hallway." 

Meredith starts to protest. Derek puts his finger up to her lips to keep her quiet.

"And… Ms. Grey. If you have any grievances, you will speak to me about it. If I catch you set one little piggy on that floor without an escort, you will be at the mercy of Mrs. Cristina Yang-Burke, who I do believe is on call tonight. Do I make myself clear?

"Um…"

"Do I make myself clear?" Derek smiled.

"I guess." Meredith said, giving him a half grin. "Nazi." She whispered under her breath with a full grin.

"Now go to sleep, I'll be in to check on you in a little while." Derek said as he leaned down and kissed her lips lightly. He then started for the door.

"Derek?" Meredith called as he reached the door.

"What is it, my love?"

"Do you realize that is the first time we have kissed since Katie's accident?" She said in a small voice.

"I guess you're right. Well then, there will be more kisses. I promise. I love you."

"I love you back." She mumbled as she cuddled down into her pillow.

-----------------------

That evening, Derek asked Izzie to keep watch over Katie, just for his own peace of mind. He entered her room, carrying Jack, who had not seen his mother all day.  
"Mama!" he squealed when he saw her sleeping on the bed.

"That's right, that's mama!" Derek said quietly. Derek walked to the bed and lightly brushed his hand through her hair. "Hey sweetheart. Someone is here to see you…" Derek says softly, sitting on the edge of her bed.

Meredith shifts in her sleep and her eyes flutter open. She grins widely when she sees her two boys in front of her. "Well aren't you just the most handsome man in the world!" She said sleepily.

"Thanks!" Derek says, knowing full well that she's talking to Jack.

"I'm not talking to you, I am talking about my baby boy!" She says cooing at the smiling boy bouncing on Derek's knee, holding out his arms for Meredith, his eyes sparkling with happiness at the sight of his mother. "Mamamamamamamaamaaaaa" he babbles.

"Here, let me take care of that." Derek says as he helps Meredith remove the catheter from her arm and hands her a bandage and cotton for her arm. She put the bandage on her arm and reached out for Jack.

"Hey there Bubbles" Meredith said, without thinking. She looked up at Derek for a moment and he looked down at her and smiled, with a hint of sadness.

"Mamamama" Jack cooed while in his mother's arms. Meredith sat and played with Jack for a little while on her bed as Derek watched with a smile.

"How was your nap?" Derek asked as he leaned down and gave her a kiss.

"It was nice. But I am very hungry!" Meredith replied.

::knock knock::

"Ahh! Right on cue!" Derek said with a smile. He lifted Jack from his mother's lap. "Say bye bye to mama for now." As he brought Jack in for a kiss from Meredith.

"Derek, what are you doing now?" Meredith laughed.

"You'll see." He said as he lifted Jack and walked to the door. George stood at the door with a cart with two take out containers atop it, and two bottles of water.

"Hey Mer, how are you feeling?" George asked from the doorway.

"I'm doing alright George, what is he up to?" Meredith said with a smile.

"You know him, He doesn't tell me anything." George said with a smile. "I'm going down to visit Izzie in Katie's room, you guys behave." George laughed.

"Thank you Mr. O'Malley, here is your tip." Derek said, handing Jack off to George.

"Thanks." George smiled as Jack began to instantly grab ahold of George's nose. "I'll see you guys later." He waved and closed the door behind himself.

"What is this?" Meredith asked with a laugh.

"This, my dear, this is how we eat." Derek said, handing her a take out container.

"What do you mean 'this is how we eat'?" Meredith asked.

"Well, the good doctor informed me that you hadn't been eating, so I thought that perhaps I should teach you." Derek gave her his McDreamy smile.

"This! This is a French fry." He said holding it up. "You eat it like so." He said, placing it in his mouth and chewing on it.

"Hmm… I think I have it, Dr. Pain-in-the-ass" Meredith laughed.

"Ah! You dare mock me!" Derek laughed in a faux angry tone. "Fine! No Dessert for you!"

-----------------------

They eat and talk and laugh. More than they had laughed in more than a week. Meredith couldn't believe how hungry she was until she took that first bite of the hamburger. After their dinner was over, they sit together, Meredith still on the bed, and Derek seated at the end of the bed, and they have a couple of seconds of awkward silence.

"Hmm… so where's dessert?" Meredith asked. "You promised Dessert."

"Ah, I thought you were too tired for dessert?" Derek laughed.

"Not that kind of dessert! You got me all excited!" Meredith pouted.

"Listen. I have dessert planned too. But first, we have to talk."

"Do we have to?" Meredith whined.

"Yep. Talk, then dessert, I promise." He said as he crawled up next to her on the bed and put his head on her chest. She ran her fingers gently through his hair.

"Talk… then dessert." She repeated as she sighed.  
"What do you want to talk about?" Meredith asked, avoiding his eyes.

"What I did." Derek said, in an ashamed tone.

"What do you mean?"

"I don't know, but I think I overreacted. I put a matter that I probably should have handled myself into the hands of someone else, someone I cannot control."

"Matthew."

"Yes. I don't think I should have done what I did. I think I should have just kicked the crap out of Mark a few more times. Because not only do we not have our Katie-bug around right now, but we don't have her best friend, the one that possibly saved her. He is probably scared and sad." Derek said, not looking up and Meredith.

"What Mark did was incredibly stupid." Meredith replied.

"I know. What he did was incredibly stupid, but why should we take it out on Matthew. He is a good boy. His mother was doing a fine job with him, and I go and screw it all up."

"I don't want you to feel worse Derek, but Rebecca said that she didn't even know that the door was locked."

"I'm sorry." Derek whimpered.

"Sorry about what?" Meredith inquired.

"You know." Derek said, embarrassed.

"No, what are you sorry about?"

"I'm sorry that I slapped you. I'm sorry." Derek said, looking up in her eyes.

"I'm sorry that I said what I did. I love you."

"I love you more."

"Where is that dessert?" Meredith asked with a smile.

"You have a one track mind." Derek said as he sat up and began to kiss her passionately, moving his hands up and down her arms. "I have a better idea." He said as he moved to the end of the bed. Let's go see George and Izzie." Derek said as he stood up and grabbed the wheelchair. "Your chariot awaits!" Derek laughed.

"Sounds like a plan." Meredith said, jumping down from the bed and hopping onto the wheelchair.

-----------------------

Derek rolls a laughing Meredith down the hallway and he stops in front of Katie's room. He walks to the front of the wheelchair and bends down on one knee.

"Meredith Grey, I love your smile."

"I love yours." Meredith said, with a bigger smile. "Let's go visit!" Meredith said, getting up from the wheelchair.

Meredith and Derek quietly walk into the room, where George and Izzie are sitting, playing a quiet game of scrabble. Jack is sound asleep in his carrier next to them.

"Hey guys, what's up?" Izzie asked, standing up and giving Meredith a hug.

"Not much, we just wanted to stop in and visit with you guys for a while." Meredith said. Meredith walked over to Katie's bedside and gave her a kiss on the forehead. "We love you Katie-bug. Mommy and daddy are going to visit with aunt Izzie and uncle Georgie for a little while. You know where we'll be, we love you." Meredith says and walks over to the chair that Derek had pulled up to the table for her.

"So what have you two been up to? We haven't seen you that much." Derek asked as he stretched back on his chair.

"Well, we have been mostly worrying about Katie and you guys. You have looked like ghosts since it happened. She's going to get better though, I can tell." Izzie said confidently, as she put a word down on the scrabble board.

"Thanks Iz. I'm glad that there is a positive attitude around here, it really is good for her recovery." Derek smiles.

"So, I'm figuring that you guys postponed the wedding once again." George said quietly.

"Yeah, it doesn't look like we're ever going to get married." Meredith sighed sadly.

"Hey Mer? I was wondering, maybe we could plan our weddings together, have everyone together at one time, one big blast. After Katie gets better, don't know when yet, but we can do it together." Izzie said with a smile.

"What do you mean 'our weddings?', Izzie is there something you're not telling us?" Meredith asked with a smile.

"Yeah." Izzie grins brightly and shows Meredith the ring on her finger. "Someone asked me the day you guys left. The day before the accident." Izzie giggled.

"GEORGE! Congratulations!" Derek exclaimed, looking over at George, who was smiling shyly while looking down nervously.

"OH IZZIE! THAT'S GREAT!" Meredith squealed as she and Izzie stood up and gave eachother a big hug. Derek got up and joined in. "Come on, George!" Meredith said happily. George got up and bashfully gave all three a big hug. "I AM SO EXCITED!"

Suddenly, the door opens to the room and Cristina walks in, seeing the group hug before her, she responded as only Cristina would...

"Oh… Uh… This is SO awkward." She stutters and turns around and steps back into the hallway, closing the door behind her.

-----------------------

Meredith runs to the door and slips outside to talk to Cristina, who is walking down the hallway.

"Cris! Get back here!" Meredith called out. Cristina turned and stopped, looked at Meredith.

"You have to promise!" Cristina called with a smile.

"Fine, you don't have to take part in the hug. Did you need something?" Meredith asked as Cristina came closer.

"Kind of, but you're visiting with the bug, you guys are all giddy and 'something-or-other' in there." Cristina replied.

"We were just talking about George and Izzie's news." Meredith said with a broad smile.

"Yeah? They told me the morning after, but we didn't want to bother you with it after the bug's accident. Burke and I have some news too, if you all would like to hear it. But no hugging!" Cristina said, pointing her finger in the air.

"No hugging…" Meredith repeated as she led Cristina into the room. Derek, George and Izzie are sitting back down, talking excitedly and they all look up when the girls walk in.

"Ok guys, I have an announcement to make, but you have to promise…. NO HUGGING!" Cristina said, wagging her finger at them.

"We promise." Izzie smiled, looking at George and Meredith.

"Burkeandiarehavinabebee" Cristina mumbled.

"What?" Meredith asked, pretty sure of what she heard, but not positive.

"Burke and I are having a baby, a tot, a newborn, a fetus. I am with child. I am hormonal and grumpy and I am a puking machine. Happy?" Cristina spit out.

"AWWWW!!" Meredith cried as she extended her arms towards Cristina.

"YOU promised!" Cristina said as Meredith closed in on a hug. George, Izzie, and Derek then get up from their chairs. "NO! YOU PROMISED!" Cristina said as Meredith held her tightly. The other three embraced her with a big hug. "I hate every last one of you, do you know that?" Cristina said with a laugh.

-----------------------

The five of them sat and talked for a couple more hours, until Cristina was paged and had to leave and Izzie and George had to get home because they had work in the morning. Derek and Meredith sit in silence as they contemplate what to talk about.

"So, do you promise to eat, and sleep like a normal person?" Derek asked.

"I promise I'll try." Meredith said. "I'm sorry that I got sick." She sighed.

"I know. You have to take care of you, I'll try better to help you too. I love you." Derek said, his gaze shifting over to his little girl in the bed.

"I love you. Listen, why don't you take a break from this hospital, ok? I'll stay here with the baby and Katie. You go out and do something. Ride the ferry, go over to Joes. I'll be here if anything happens and I'll page you right away. You need to get out of this hospital, you're going to go stir crazy." Meredith said softly.

"Leave? Are you sure?" Derek asked, Meredith nodded. "Maybe you're right. Maybe I should do some thinking. I love you, do you know that?" Derek said as he stood up.

"I know that." Meredith said as Derek kneel down in front of her.

"I'll do anything for you, and I promise I will try not to hurt you ever again. I love you." He said as he reached forward and gave her a passionate kiss on the lips.

"Ahh… dessert. You still forgot dessert." Meredith laughed.

"Haha. I'll see you soon. I'll bring you dessert, you get some rest, I won't be too long." Derek smiled as he stood up. "Behave." Derek said in a daddy tone.

"You behave." Meredith said with a laugh as she watched him leave the room.

-----------------------

11:00 PM.

Derek stepped out of the hospital for the first time in days. He took in a breath of the spring air. After the evenings events, he felt much different than he had in days. The thought of Katie-bug was constantly on his mind, but for some reason, being outside at this moment lifted his spirits. He thought of taking a drive, going down to the ferry and sitting and thinking, but he knew for sure that it wasn't a good idea. Not when the pain of not having his little girl was so raw. He wouldn't be able to take it. Derek looked across the street at Joe's. It seemed like a pretty quiet night and Derek hadn't had a drink in a very long time. Not wanting a drink, so much as be around some other people, Derek walked across the street to the bar.

The bell on the door made a sound as he entered the bar, he walked up to the bar and sat down. He looked down the stools and at the very end, there was a familiar figure, leaning over the bar with his drink.

"Hey Shep, you haven't been here in a while." Joe remarked, causing the man at the end of the bar to glance up for a second. His face was expressionless, his slumped shoulders were unmistakable.

"Nope, things have been pretty hectic. I'll just have a beer Joe." Derek responded. "Hey Joe, how long has he been here?" Derek asked quietly, indicating the man at the end of the bar.

"He's been in here off and on, and about a week ago, he's been in here a lot. Why? Do you know him?" Joe asked handing Derek his beer.

"Yeah, I know him." Derek said, accepting the drink, he looks forward as he begins to drink it, casually looking over to the end of the bar now and then.

After several minutes, Derek picks up his drink and walks to the end of the bar, he sits down next to the man and just stares over the bar while quietly drinking his drink.

"I hate you." Derek said softly.

"I know. I do too." Mark responded.

"Feeling sorry for yourself?" Derek asked.

"No. I know you hate me."

"I do. I really hate you. You're stupid, self centered, arrogant, you are a downright ass."

"So are you."

"Shut up."

"You shut up."

"I'm dropping the charges." Derek said softly.

"What?" Mark asked, finally looking at Derek.

"I'm dropping the neglect charges. I'm just going to tell them that you're a fucking immature idiot that doesn't know any better, and you love your son and you would never do anything knowingly to hurt him."

"How is she?"

"Bad, Mark. It's really bad. She isn't breathing on her own yet. We had her off the ventilator for a short time, and then she went into respiratory arrest this afternoon. We're going to take her off tomorrow to see if we can extubate her soon. All of the swelling is gone and as far as we can tell, her arm is healing. I miss her." Derek started strong, but by the time he reached those last three words, his voice was a whimper.

"I'm sorry."

"Shut up. I hate you." Derek shoots back. He pauses for a few moments. "Have you seen him?"

"I am allowed to visit him now and then."

"How is he?"

"He is sad. He misses her."

"How does that make you feel?"

"Like a big load of shit."

"Good. I hate you." Derek says as he gets up and drops the money for his beer on the bar. He turns to walk out. "Mark." Derek said, turning.

"What?"

"I'm going to drop the charges. When you get him back, come and visit Katie. She needs her friends." Derek said quietly, turns and walks out the door.

-----------------------

May 15th-

It has now been sixteen days since the incident, a week since Katie's last health scare. The ventilator had been removed two days after that, and finding that she was becoming stronger, and could breathe well on her own, she was finally extubated. Derek was still devastated, but he found the strength to work now and again, to try to keep his mind off his little girl, and Meredith was also working now and then, ensuring that she spend time in Katherine's room.

::Knock knock::

Meredith got up from her chair and walked to the door, she stepped outside and smiled brightly.

"Aunt MER!" Matthew squealed.

"Matty!" Meredith smiled as she scooped up the little boy and gave him a big hug. "How is my big boy!" Meredith asked, smiling over at Rebecca, who was beaming beside them.

"I am good! They let me go home with mommy, and mommy said that I could visit Katie and that I had to be really good and quiet because Katie is sleeping."

"That's great. Sure you can go visit Katie, buddy. I missed you!" Meredith said, slipping in another hug.

"I missed you too Aunt Mer. I have a couple more pictures that I colored for Katie, can we put them up?" Matthew responded.

"Sure can. Let's go see Katie, ok. You can talk to her if you want, she can hear everything you say, even though she's sleeping, she will be listening to you." Meredith said as he led Rebecca in, still holding Matthew in her arms. It made Meredith's heart jump a little thinking about how she wish she were holding her little girl in her arms like that, he was so full of life, so full of happiness.

"Here you go buddy. See, there she is." Meredith said with a small smile as she set Matthew down on the edge of Katherine's bed.

Katherine's blanket was pulled up to her chest with her left arm down at her side, her right arm still in a cast. She had recently been given a bath so she smelled of lavender and baby oil. Meredith had brushed her hair so that her little curls were not in her eyes, though she wished she could see them bobbing around again. The ventilator was gone and Katherine's lips were a little chapped, but besides that, she looked as if she were sleeping.

Matthew crawled so that his whole body was on the bed next to her and he reached his hand out to touch Katie's face. "Mommy, she looks like sleeping beauty." Matthew said quietly, a little smile playing across his face.

"She sure is a beauty." Rebecca remarked sadly, though trying to remain positive in front of Matthew.

"Well, you visit a little, mommy and Aunt Mer will be right here. Here are the pictures you colored for Katie." Rebecca remarked, handing him an envelope with several drawings inside.

Rebecca and Meredith stand back and watch the little boy visit his friend.

"Hi Katie." The little boy says as he holds his friend's hand. Aunt Mer says you can hear me, so I am just gonna tell you a few things. I miss you. I had to go live with someone else for a while after you got hurt, but now I'm living with my mommy again. They said they'll visit me sometimes, but I would rather just be with my mommy. I colored you some pictures!" Matthew said as he lifted the envelope and pulled out his drawings.

"This one is a picture of you and me on a boat." He said, pointing different things. "When you get all better, you and me can go on a boat and we can have fun." Matthew smiled.

"Joey at the park says that he thinks you're my girlfriend. I told him that you're not my girlfriend, cuz you're not a girl, you're a Katie!" Matthew said with a laugh. "Um…I miss you."

Matthew chattered on and on to his sleeping friend about the park and about how much he missed her. He told her about his pictures and how he hoped that they would make her feel better. After a little while it was time to get going.

"Alright Matty, it's time to get going." Rebecca says as she attempts to lift him off the bed.

"No, mommy. One more thing." Matthew says. He gets on his knees and scoots over to Katie's side. He holds her hand and leans over very lightly. He drops a little kiss on Katie's lips and sits back, watching her for a few moments. "Bye Katie, feel better soon." He whispered as he crawled back to the bottom of the bed and Rebecca helped him down.

"What was that all about?" Meredith asked as she squatted down to Matthew's level.

"She's going to wake up soon, Aunt Mer."

"Yeah? I miss her too."

"She's going to wake up because she's sleeping beauty and I gave her a kiss, just like prince charming. Sometimes it just takes a little while." He said with a bright grin. Matthew gave Meredith a big hug, wrapping his little arms around her neck. "I love you Aunt Mer!" He exclaimed.

"I love you too Matty Bear. You be good for your mommy and you can come visit me any time, ok? You can bring your mommy too if you want." Meredith said, smiling up at Rebecca, who looks down and gives Meredith a sad smile. "I'll see you soon!"

"Bye Aunt Mer!" Matt says as Rebecca leads him out of the room.

-----------------------

Derek and Meredith are in the cabin of the ferry, sitting and quietly watching the boat drift along the water. Their silence is a signal of their strength and comfortableness around one another, because being able to stay silent while together helps them to feel whole and makes the pain that they are feeling feel like less of a burden on their shoulders.

"Meredith?" Derek whispers.

"Yes?" Meredith responds.

"What do we do if she doesn't wake up?" Derek whispers.

"I don't want to think about it." Meredith says simply.

"I know Meredith, but we have to think about it. What do we do if she doesn't wake up, what if her brain activity slows and there is nothing more we can do for her Meredith? What happens then?" Derek asked desperately.

"Why do you ask me questions like that Derek? Why do you beg me to tell you that everything is going to be alright? Everything may not go the way we want it to, you have to realize it Derek. Our life isn't a fairy tale, we can't just wish upon a star, or kiss her on the lips and have her magically wake up. We don't know what is going to happen, you don't know, I don't know. Stop asking me such stupid questions." Meredith got up and walked away, slamming the cabin door behind her.

Derek stood up and leaned against the glass in the cabin, he lifted his hand and punched his fist against the glass. "Goddamn it!" he growls

"Daddy?"it was soft, weak, but he could hear it.

"Katie?" Derek whips his head around.

"Daddy, is that you?"

Derek starts to look around, he starts looking into the crowd of people. He runs out the cabin door following the voice.

"Daddy?" it is barely above a whisper.

Suddenly, Derek sees a little girl on the deck below, she's wearing a pink princess dress, twirling her arms around, her hair is brown and curly, though Derek can't see her face, the voice is unmistakable. She's saying in a sing-song voice "daddy daddy daddy… daddy…"

"KATIE!" Derek calls down, the little girl looks up and sees Derek.

"Daddy!" The little girl says as she takes off running on the deck.

"Katie!" Derek yells as he runs down the stairs to the deck below, he begins to look frantically around for the little girl. He takes off running down the deck and misses a step, falling onto his face. He closes his eyes in pain. He can feel the wind from the cool air through his hair and he hears the wind, what he thinks is the wind.

"Daddy…. Daddy..." Derek hears it faintly again.

He lifts his head up a little and opens his eyes.

He is no longer on the ferry boat. He is in Katie's hospital room. His head lying on her bed, he had fallen asleep. He suddenly realizes that the movement in his hair is not the wind, but a small hand, working its way through his hair. And the sound of the wind, is not the sound of the wind, its a tiny voice.

"Wake up sleepyhead." He hears faintly. He whips his head up and blue locks on blue. Derek smiles at one of the most beautiful things he has ever seen.

-----------------------

Derek just sat there in a stunned silence as Katie stared at him, her eyes bright blue and a smile across her face.

"What was that?" Derek asked, not believing his eyes or ears.

"I said, wake up sleepy head." Katie responded in a soft, raspy voice. "My tummy hurts daddy."

Derek didn't respond at first, he just kept staring at her in amazement. "You know who I am?" Derek asked, testing her for recognition or signs of brain damage.

"Of course, you're my daddy, silly." Katie smiled. "I miss mommy, daddy. My tummy hurts." She said, holding out her hand. Derek took her little hand in his.

"It's going to be alright, baby, you just stay right there, don't move. Are you scared?" Derek asked as he carefully pulled out his cell phone and dialed Meredith's pager 911 to the room.

"Yes, daddy. How did I get here?" She asked quietly as she looked around, she saw that her arm was in a cast, she seemed to be in a fog, but she also seemed to understand where she was.

"You fell down and got hurt sweetheart. Uncle Mark and Aunt Becca brought you to the hospital and mommy and daddy came home for you. We love you." Derek said softly, reaching up and kissing her forehead and sitting back down. He found it almost impossible to take his eyes away from hers, he had missed them so much.

"I wanna go home." Katie's eyes begin to well up with tears.

Suddenly the door bursts open and Meredith flies in at full speed. "What happened, is she ok?….!" she calls as she enters the room, sliding to a stop when she sees the little girl with her head leaning against Derek, her eyes open, crying. "My baby!" Meredith whispers.

"Mommy!" Katie smiled, her enthusiasm quelled by the soreness of her body, but her eyes dance at the sight of her mother entering the room.

Meredith ran to her bedside and pulled her little girl close. "Baby, I missed you so much!" Meredith started to cry.


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34-

June 2nd

"NOOOO!!!!!!!!!!" Katherine screamed at the top of her lungs.

"Katherine Elisabeth, if you do not stop this attitude right now, you are going to be in so much trouble." Meredith said, tired of Katie's most recent outburst.

"Daddy said I DIDN'T HAVE TO!" Katie screamed from her bedroom.

"Daddy didn't say that, now get down here, mommy and daddy have to go to work, you have to go to the nursery. Don't you want to see Matt?" Meredith begged.

"NO I DON'T LIKE MATT! I DON'T LIKE YOU! I DON'T WANNA GO! I WON'T GO!" Katie screamed, slamming her bedroom door.

"Katherine! Get down here!" Meredith called. "Derek, please go get her, we have to go to work!"

Derek gets up from his chair and walks upstairs, he looks at the bedroom door and then turns and walks back downstairs.

"Don't worry about it, I'll bring her with me, I don't have a surgery until the afternoon. You can just take Jacks with you and put him in the nursery, I'll take her." Derek replied.

Meredith agreed and grabbed Jack's car seat with him all bundled up, gave Derek a kiss and left for the hospital.

Derek walked up the stairs to Katie's door, and knocked.

"I DON'T WANT TO TALK TO YOU MOMMY! I DON'T LIKE YOU!" Katie screamed from inside the bedroom.

"It's not mommy, its daddy, I'm coming in, ok?"

The door swung open and Katie ran to Derek and wrapped her one arm around his leg. "Daddy! Mommy is so mean to me! I love you daddy! I don't want to go to the nursery! Please don't make me go!"

Derek lifts Katie into his arms. "It's alright baby, you don't have to go if you don't want. Just let me call Uncle Preston and tell him to move my surgery to tomorrow, we'll spend the day together, ok?" Derek responded giving Katie a hug. 

"I love you daddy." Katie mumbled into Derek's shoulder, wiping the tears from earlier onto his shirt.

-----------------------

7pm

Meredith arrived home with Jack to a quiet house. She hadn't seen or heard from Derek all day and Katie hadn't shown up at the nursery. She was a little worried, but she had asked Preston why Derek hadn't come in for his scheduled surgery and Preston had told her that he had called in that morning. He usually called, but both he and Katie had been acting strangely since she had woken up. It was like they were playing off of one another, and Meredith was reaching her breaking point.

About an hour later, Derek walked through the front door holding Katie in one arm and a giant teddy bear in the other arm. Katie was carrying a giant lollypop and they were laughing about something funny Derek had said. Meredith came out of the kitchen with a 'less than enthusiastic' look on her face. She stood there, with her hands on her hips as they walked through the door. Derek saw the look on her face and put Katie lightly on the ground. "Why don't you go put Big Bad Bobo Bear up in your room sweetheart." Derek said with a small smile as he set the bear down on the ground. Katie gave her mother a glance and grabbed the stuffed bear and dragged it up the stairs.

"Hey. How was your day?" Derek asked, testing the waters.

"Oh. My day? It was absolutely peachy Derek. I had a husband and daughter MIA, I was supposed to go out with Izzie and George tonight and you were going to watch Jack. But since I had absolutely no idea where you were, I had to cancel. What do you think you were doing today?"

"I took Katie to the carnival, we had a good time. I just postponed my surgery until tomorrow." Derek said.

"Derek, you know perfectly well that I told her that she could go to the carnival on the weekend. She didn't want to go to the nursery today, so you just went and let her do whatever she wanted to do. She is manipulating you, don't you see that?" Meredith argued.

"Don't say that! She is a good little girl, she was sad this morning because you were yelling at her. She just wants to have fun, she is a little princess."

"You see that Derek? She has you wrapped around her little finger. Did you even hear the way she was talking to me this morning? Did you even tell her that she can't talk to me that way?" Meredith said angrily.

"No, but partly because you were just yelling at her, you weren't listening to her. She just wanted you to listen to her." Derek said.

"Derek, stop being such a pushover! You need to learn to discipline her!"

"What the hell do you want me to do Meredith? Spank her?" Derek asked.

"If you have to spank her to get the point across, then do it. A little smack on the bottom isn't going to kill her. You have to show her that you're the boss."

Suddenly, Katie comes down the stairs. "Daddy doesn't spank me because he LOVES ME mommy! You don't love me! You were mean, now you're being mean to daddy. I don't love you, I want to go away with daddy!" Katherine said, holding her arms up to Derek, who scoops her up, not taking his eyes off of Meredith. Katie buries her head into his shoulder and cries.

"I swear to God Derek, you had better fix this!" Meredith yelled and stomped into the kitchen.

-----------------------

Meredith stood in the kitchen for a moment, listening at the door to see if Derek would fix the situation. He could hear him lightly talking to her and all of a sudden she heard Katie yell something and Derek yell very loudly back, a shuffle and then he heard Katie run upstairs screaming. Meredith stepped out of the kitchen and Derek stood there holding his arm.

"What the hell happened?" Meredith asked.

"She bit me!" Derek winced.

"She bit you?" Meredith asked surprised.

"She bit me!" Derek repeated, still holding his arm.

"Why are you still down here?" Meredith asked.

"You don't care that she bit me?"

"I told you to fix it, and then she bit you. What the hell are you still doing down here? You're going to let a five-year-old win? Derek, don't be such a pussy, put her in her place!"

"I'm not going to spank her!"

"Then the next time you decide to 'explain' to her why she was bad, I suggest you wear armor." Meredith says, turning around again and walking into the kitchen. Meredith opens the kitchen door again and looks out at Derek still holding his arm. "And Sweetheart, until you straighten her out, you can make yourself comfortable on the couch. I'm going out, you can watch the kids." Meredith said angrily, turning around once again.

-----------------------

"She bit him?" Izzie asked incredulously.

"She bit him." Meredith said simply, taking a sip of her drink.

"What did you do?" Izzie asked.

"I left him with the kids and came here. He deserves it, he won't discipline her, he won't yell at her, he won't spank her. She's his little princess. Now if Jack so much as touches something that he's not supposed to when he's toddling around….oh, he'll get a smack on the bottom and get yelled at. But not Katie, she's a perfect little angel." Meredith said.

"So this is what I have to look forward to?" Cristina mumbles grumpily.

"Yep. Especially if Burke doesn't put his foot down. It gets worse when I'm trying to do something with Jack. I know part of it is jealousy, but Derek just sits back and lets her have her little fits and when she cries and pouts, he gives her anything she wants." Meredith replied.

"What are you going to do about Katie's episodes?" George asked.

"I'm going to let Derek deal with them when she acts out to him and I will deal with them my way. But I'll tell you something, if she bit me, that little behind wouldn't be sat upon for a week. Derek's sleeping on the couch tonight, he needs to teach her a lesson and if it means me teaching him a lesson…. He'll have to deal with it."

"Ahh… good move!" Cristina laughs, putting her hand up for a high five.

"I just wonder what's going on at your place right now…" Izzie says.

-----------------------

"KATHERINE ELISABETH SHEPHERD, GET OUT OF THERE RIGHT NOW!" Derek screamed at his daughter, who was lying on her back under Jack's crib kicking the bottom of the crib. Jack is in Derek's arms crying loudly after having been woke up by Katie kicking the mattress.

"NO NO NO NO NO! DADDY IS A MONSTER! DADDY IS MEAN! MEAN MEAN MEAN MEAN MONSTER!!" Katie screamed as she kicked.

"GET OUT OF THERE!" Derek said, reaching under the crib, he pulled Katie out by her leg, sliding her across the floor on her back. She kicked and screamed the entire time, kicking Jack in the process, who lets out a howl of pain as Derek tries to maneuver the screaming Katie. Derek checks Jack quickly to make sure he's alright and lifts him into his crib, he stands against the rail of the crib, holding his arms out to Derek screaming and crying.

Derek grabs Katie by both legs and carries her out of the room upside down. He carries her downstairs like that and deposits the screaming child in Jack's playpen. "NOW STAY THERE!" Derek screams.

"NO! NO NO NO!" Katie screams back, trying to climb out of the playpen, only to be blocked by Derek, she tries to punch him with her one good fist, which he grabs in mid air. He holds it for a moment and she goes to bite him on the hand. Derek swiftly slaps her face lightly. Suddenly she stops, she looks at Derek's face in shock. Derek can't believe what he just did, but he doesn't falter.

"You are going to stay in that playpen until you can behave yourself, do you hear me? And if you EVER try to bite me again, you're going to get another smack. Do you understand?" Katie just sits there, her face bright red from her tantrum, tears still running down her face, an expressionless look on her face. "DO YOU UNDERSTAND?" Derek growled at her.

"uh huh." Katie said quietly, sitting down in the playpen.

"Good, now you stay there while I get your brother and if I hear one peep out of your mouth, or if you move out of there, you're going to get it." Derek said angrily as he walked up the stairs.

Derek walked up the stairs to Jack's room, he lifted the crying baby out of the crib and tried to soothe his tears. He sat in the rocking chair rocking him back and forth until he calmed down. Derek walked downstairs with Jack, rocking him the whole time, singing to him. But when he got to the bottom of the steps, he knew that his night was just beginning. Katie was no longer within the confines of the playpen, instead, the playpen sit empty and the front door was wide open, with the summer breeze blowing in.

"Goddamn it!" Derek growled as he ran out the front door. His outburst causing another set of tears from Jack as he went to find Katie.

-----------------------

As soon as Derek stepped off the porch with Jack in his arms, the door behind him slammed closed and the deadbolt clicked locked.

"What the…?" Derek said as he stepped up to the door. "KATHERINE! YOU ARE GOING TO GET IT!" Derek screamed as he peeked in the little window next to the door and sees Katie running into the kitchen. 

Derek starts to bang on the door, screaming for her to open it, he sees her come out of the kitchen with a popsicle and sit in front of the television. He can see his house keys sitting on the table next to the door and sighs in disgust. He runs around to the kitchen door and Katie had made sure to lock that one too.

"Damn it, now what do I do?" Derek said, peeking into the window one more time, making sure she's still watching television. He turns and sits on the porch step, still trying to calm Jack down. "I guess we're stuck out here for a little while, buddy. So much for giving 'her' a time out." He sighs.

-----------------------

Two hours later, Meredith pulls up in her car. Derek is still sitting on the front porch, Jack is asleep in his arms.

"What are you doing out here? Enjoying the summer breeze?" Meredith say sarcastically.

"Uh. Ye… No." Derek says embarrassed.

"Well, what are you doing?"

Derek put his head down and snuggled Jack closer to him. "Katie locked me out." He mumbled.

"What?" Meredith asked, walking up to the door, peeking in and seeing Katie sleeping soundly in front of the television, trying the handle.

"Tried that already." Derek says sarcastically.

"Alright 'brain surgeon', follow me." Meredith say sarcastically. Meredith walks over to Derek's car and opens the car door. She pushes the button for the garage door opener. The garage opens and Derek follows Meredith into the garage, where she opens the door to the house and walks inside, without saying a word to him.

"Now watch this." She glares at Derek as he follows her sheepishly into the living room.

Meredith walks over to sleeping Katie and grabs ahold of her under the arms. She stands her up. Katie is groggy and sleepy and just looks at her mother in surprise. "Katherine Shepherd, who do you think you are?" Meredith says sternly. Katie looks at her mother with a little fear in her eyes. Meredith turns her around and gives her three sharp smacks on her butt, Katie starts to cry, but sees the look in her mother's eyes and thinks otherwise. "Now get your ass upstairs right this minute, and if I see your face, before I open that door in the morning, you're going to get more than a smack on the ass." Meredith growls.

Katie takes off running full speed upstairs. Meredith turns to Derek and takes Jack from him without saying a word. She starts to walk for the stairs and turns to him. "I'll go get you a blanket and a pillow for your couch." She says coldly as she ascends the stairs.

-----------------------

Derek awoke in the morning with a horrible backache. His time on the couch was less than pleasant. He woke when he heard two sets of footsteps stomping down the stairs. He peeked and could see Katie sullenly making her way down the stairs, already dressed and ready for the day. Behind her was Meredith, a look that was a cross between defiance and victory on her face. Without saying a word, Meredith rips off the blanket on top of Derek on her way through the living room.

"Hey, I was using that!" Derek exclaimed, with a playful smile.

Meredith's response was a less than playful dirty look that she flashed in his direction. She dropped the blanket on the love seat and followed Katie into the kitchen.

"Ok… so we're not talking…." Derek responded as he went upstairs to shower and get ready for work. When he got downstairs, Meredith and both kids were already gone, his car keys lay on the table next to the door.

"Hmm…. So we're 'definitely' not talking…" Derek said to himself.

-----------------------

When Derek got to the hospital, he walked through the lobby and took the elevator up to the surgical floor. He stepped off the elevator and walked down the hallway to the surgery board. He stood there looking over the surgeries for the day and for some reason, he felt as if he was being watched. He looked around, but everyone was busying themselves with other things. He walked towards his first patient's room, but he couldn't shake the feeling that someone was watching him. He looked around before entering the patient's room. While talking to the patient in the room, he heard a commotion outside, it sounded like someone was being chased down the hallway.

"There you are, get back here!" a voice called.

"MOMMY MOMMY!! DADDY!" He heard someone screaming and running down the hallway.

"What is going on out here?" Derek asked as he walked out of the room. Just as he stepped out into the hallway, he was hit head on by a little body running right into his leg. "DADDY! HELP ME!" Katie screamed, grabbing ahold of Derek's leg, practically climbing up his pant leg.

Derek scooped her up just as one of the nurses ran around the corner trying to find her. "There she is! Come on, we have to go back." The nurse said, reaching out for Katie.

"NO Daddy! Don't make me go! DADDY PLEASE DADDY!" Katie screamed, burying her head deeply into Derek's shoulder and neck, digging her nails into his back, to the point where it was painful.

"What's going on here?" Derek asked, trying to disconnect Katie's fingernails from his skin..

"Dr. Shepherd, we were going to take some of the children outside to play at the park and when we told Katie where we were going, she became very agitated. We were walking out of the nursery and she just took off!" the nurse said, out of breath.

"Don't worry about it, I'll take care of it. I'll bring her down to the nursery after I've had a talk with her." Derek responded. The nurse agreed, and turned and left.

Katie's grip on Derek's neck became less intense when the nurse left, and Katie began to calm as Derek reassured her that nothing bad was going to happen.

-----------------------

"Post traumatic Stress Disorder?" Meredith questioned the doctor, holding Katie close in her lap.

"Yes, Dr. Grey. Katherine went through a very terrifying experience last month. An experience that appears to be causing her to take out her fear and frustrations out on those around her. After speaking with her, I found that she is very nervous about going outside of the house for fear that something bad might happen, and she also seems to be acting out on frustrations that you both were not there when she was injured." Dr. Silver explained.

Meredith and Derek exchange a look. "What would be the best course of treatment? We don't want to have her medicated if we can help it." Derek asked, concerned.

"Well, Although some children show a natural remission in PTSD symptoms over a period of a few months, a significant number of children continue to exhibit symptoms for years. The most effective treatment for children with PTSD is Cognitive-Behavioral Therapy. CBT generally includes the child directly discussing the traumatic event, anxiety management techniques such as relaxation and assertiveness training, and correction of inaccurate or distorted trauma related thoughts. Although there is some controversy regarding exposing children to the events that scare them, exposure-based treatments seem to be most relevant when memories or reminders of the trauma distress the child. Katie can be exposed gradually and taught relaxation so that they can learn to relax while recalling their experiences. Through this procedure, she will learn that she does not have to be afraid of her memories. It is away of showing her that the world is not an unsafe place and she has nothing to fear. It's a safe, non medicated approach, and its something that you can do with her."

"So, no medication." Derek reassured himself.

"No medication. You just have to show her that there is nothing to be afraid of. She's a smart little girl, she just needs a little time to understand what she went through."

"Thank you, Dr. Silver." Meredith lifted Katie up and went to shake his hand. "If we have any more problems, we'll be sure to contact you."

"It's not a problem Dr. Grey, Dr. Shepherd. If you two ever need anyone to talk to, I'm around for that too."

Derek and Meredith walked silently to the elevator. There were a couple people in the elevator, they stepped inside and pushed the button. "I'm going to go bring her back down to the nursery, I have a couple more patients to see today and I'll be done. I'll bring them home after I'm done." Meredith says quietly, not looking at him as the elevator goes to the floor where the nursery is.

"Ok. I have a surgery at 2 and another at 5, so I'll probably be home late." Derek said, looking in her direction, but she still refuses to look at him. The elevators door open on the first floor and Derek and Meredith look surprised to see who is standing there waiting for the elevator. The person steps into the elevator between Derek and Meredith and turns around and waits for the door to close.

"Wow" Derek says, giving Meredith an apologetic, pleading look. "This elevator sure is getting crowded."

-----------------------

"Wow" Derek says, giving Meredith an apologetic, pleading look. "This elevator sure is getting crowded."

Addison stands there between Derek and Meredith with a smirk on her face as the elevator doors close. She continues to look straight ahead. "Well if it isn't the Shepherd family." She says snidely. "Ahem… excuse me, I mean, the Shepherd 'and' Grey family." Addison said with a snicker, glancing at Meredith, who gives her an angry fake smile. 

Meredith shoots Derek a glare as the elevator doors open. Meredith steps off quickly and makes her way to the nursery at a fast walk. "Suburbia really suits you, Derek." Addison said, touching Derek's face. Derek flinched, threw her a dirty glare and stops the elevator doors before they close, he then runs after Meredith.

-----------------------

Derek tried to catch up with Meredith in the hallway. "Meredith! Are you alright?" He called as she walked faster towards the nursery. 

Meredith stopped before she entered the nursery and turned to Derek. "As if my life couldn't get any worse. My daughter has a 'disorder', my fiancé has a problem with discipline and I feel like crap Derek. I feel like crap and it just gets worse! Now she shows up, flashing her horns and tail in any direction anyone will look, and I just feel like crap. Just go back to work, go to work and forget about it ok? I'll be upstairs in a little while, I have to talk to Mrs. Patterson about Katie. Just go Derek, please?" Meredith pleads.

"Are you alright?" Derek asked again.

"NO Derek, I'm NOT alright. Just leave me alone for a little while, got it?" Meredith snaps.

"Mommy, please don't yell." Katie mumbles into her mother's neck.

"See, now you got her all upset." Meredith says, trying to look at Katie's face. "Derek, just go, ok. GO!"

"Ok, but if you need to talk, I'm around. I love you." Meredith doesn't respond, she just turns and walks into the nursery.

Derek turns around and walks back down the hallway, defeated.

-----------------------

Meredith walked grumpily down the hallway, her frustration from Addison being in the hospital, combined with Katie's problem was really getting to her. Just as she passed an empty exam room, an arm reached out and grabbed hold of her arm. She was pulled into the dark exam room and the door was closed behind her.

"What the…?" Meredith says as the door closes.

"What the hell is your problem?" Derek says as he pushes her roughly up against a wall. She tries to get out of his grip but he holds her hands up against the wall.

"I'm not in the mood for this Derek. What do you mean what the hell is my problem?" Meredith said angrily. "You know what I'm upset about, now leave me alone."

"Fine. I'll leave you alone. But not before I do this." Derek says. He then puts his lips on hers and kisses her passionately, still holding her hands against the wall. He pulls away and let go of her hands. "I'll leave you alone now." Derek says as he turns and walks towards the door.

"Not so fast, you pain in the ass." Meredith says angrily as she grabs the back of his lab coat and pushes his back against the wall. She rubs her body against his and nuzzles his neck for a couple seconds and then reaches up for another passionate kiss, one that she is ready for. He groans as she takes control and just as he is about to put his hands around her waist, she pulls away. "Now get back to work!" She says.

Meredith walks towards the door and takes a look back at him stunned against the wall, gives him a wink and steps out of the room.

"Oh! Excuse me" a flustered Meredith says as she almost runs into Addison in the hallway and rushes down the hallway in one direction. Addison stops and sees an equally flustered Derek walk out of the exam room.

"Dr. Montgomery." Derek sighs with a sly grin, as he turns and walks the opposite direction of Meredith.

-----------------------

Derek arrived home at 8:30 pm and Meredith was sitting on the couch with Katie snuggled on her lap asleep. "Hey." He said as he closed the door behind him.

"Hey." Meredith said quietly as she patted the spot on the couch beside her for Derek to sit down. Derek took his shoes off and put his jacket on a hook near the door and sat down next to Meredith. He positioned himself so that she could snuggle between his legs against his chest, with Katie snuggled in her lap. "How were your surgeries?" Meredith said into his chest, yawning.

"They went well, nothing too extraordinary." Derek said, dropping a kiss on her head.

"So are you going to tell me?" Meredith asked.

"Tell you what?" Derek said, teasing a little.

"Why is she in town?"

"Believe it or not, Preston brought her in for a consult. She's going to be here for at least two weeks." Derek said.

Meredith groans. "I bet Rebecca is none to happy with this turn of events." Meredith says.

"Yeah, she's pretty upset about it. She talked to me between surgeries. She's worried that she's back for Mark. Why anyone would want Mark is beyond me, but I told Rebecca not to worry about it." Derek said.

"Rebecca and Mark are back together? I have really got to start paying attention. Hey, why don't we invite her over for a barbeque or something."

"Rebecca?" Derek asked.

"No, Addison. We'll just be friendly, it can't hurt. If she declines, then she declines, and we can have a picnic with just Mark, Rebecca and Matt." Meredith suggests.

"I hate Mark." Derek said.

"You do not hate Mark, cut it out. What do you say?"

"Well, its not really a suggestion that I ever expected to come out of your mouth, but sure, we'll invite her over for a barbeque this weekend and we'll have a good time. That sounds good. So we're giving her the benefit of the doubt?" Derek asked.

"We will pretend that she has nothing but good intentions and we'll have a great time." Meredith smiled, leaning her head on his chest.

"Yep. A great time. Now if we could only get our five-year-old to go outside and play."

-----------------------

Derek and Meredith spent time, on and off for the next three days talking with Katie about her fears and taught her some relaxation techniques for when she was nervous. Her attitude had taken a pretty good turn around, though she was still having temper tantrums now and then, but that was just her being a 5 year-old.

Saturday came and Meredith and Derek prepared for the barbeque. Katie sat at the picnic table waiting patiently for Mark and Rebecca to get there with Matthew. Meredith and Derek were quite surprised when Addison had agreed to come to the house for a get together, but to make sure things stayed comfortable, they invited Izzie and George, Cristina and Burke.

Jack was in his playpen, playing happily with his toys and people started to arrive. Everyone was there, walking and mingling in the backyard when Addison showed up. Derek picked up Jack and met Addison at her car, so that she wouldn't feel like she was heading towards a firing squad.

"Well who is this little guy?" Addison remarked, seeing Jack's smile and piercing blue eyes.

"This is Jackson Grey Shepherd." Derek said proudly. "He'll be a year old in August."

"So…" Addison says.

"Yes, she was pregnant with him when I saw you last. Come on in, we've been waiting for you." Derek said, leading her to the back yard.

"Wow, Derek, he really looks just like you." Addison remarked with a hint of regret.

"Sure does!" Derek said with a smile, lifting Jack over his head, making the little boy giggle as he enters the backyard.

Seeing the new visitor, Katie and Matthew take off running towards Derek. "Hi Daddy!" Katie says with a giggle.

"Hi Daddy!" Matthew giggles back.

Addison gives Derek a look, "Alright guys, that's enough. This is Addison, be polite and say hi."

"Hi Miss Addison." Katie says with a grin, looking over at Matthew.

"Hi Miss Addison." Matthew repeats with a giggle, the kids turn around and take off towards the play fort.

"Ok. That was Katie, and the other one was Matthew. They have been at a game of 'copycat' all day, just to warn you." Derek says as he takes a couple of steps forward. He stops and turns around. "Oh! And when they're around, don't say the word 'truck' 'bell' 'sam' or 'spit'. They like to rhyme too. Come on in, Everyone is eager to see you."

-----------------------

Addison follows Derek into the backyard and is amazed by how beautiful his new home and family is. She can't help but feel a little jealous of the life that he made for himself. Two beautiful children, a huge house with so much land. He even has Mark as a friend again.

"Addison! I am so glad you could make it!" Meredith said, walking over, taking Jack from Derek and giving Addison a hug. Addison felt a little strange hugging the woman that had stolen her husband, so she made it quick. "Come on and make yourself comfortable, a couple more people might come, we're not sure. There are chips over there and soda over there." Meredith and Derek leave Addison to mingle and try to make herself comfortable. Mark busies himself across the lawn with the grill, trying to avoid eye contact with Addison.

Katie and Matthew, seeing Addison sit down at one of the picnic tables ran over to her.

"Hello Miss Addison." Katie says with a grin. "Whatcha doin?"

"Hello Miss Addison." Matthew repeats. "Whatcha doin?"

The two kids climb onto the picnic table with their cups of soda and sit on the table part with their legs dangling down. "I'm just sitting here, how are you two today?" Addison asks them.

"Well, My name is Katherine Elisabeth Shepherd, and I'm five years old. I live here with my mommy and daddy and my brother, Bubbles. I have a dog, he's over there." Katie says, pointing over at Buster, trying to get to the meat on the grill. "His name is Buster. See my cast! I gotted stung by bees and I fell asleep and woke up with a broke arm. I'm all better, daddy says I can get the cast off soon. This is my best friend Matty Sloan, he's so fun. We play all kinds of games like tag, and race, and coloring." Katie runs out of breath from her introduction and she takes a big breath and smiles.

"I'm Matthew D. Sloan" Matthew says, holding his hand out for Addison to shake. "I am five and I like playing with Katie and trucks and playing games. My mommy and daddy don't live here, but we visit all the time. Katie is my bestest friend! Do you have a bestest friend?" Matthew asked.

"Sure do." Addison said quietly.

"I like grape soda!" Matthew said, swinging the cup of soda in front of Addison. "My daddy poured some for me, do you want some?" Matthew asked standing up.

"No thank you." Addison said quietly. Matthew jumped from his spot on the bench and spilled his grape soda all over Addison's lap. "Ugh!" Addison exclaimed jumping up.

"Uh oh… I'm sorry! I'll go get you a nakin!" Matt said running off to find something to clean the mess up.

Katie started laughing on her spot on the picnic table and spilled her cherry soda all over the front of herself. "Whoops!" Katie exclaimed. "I'm gonna need a nakin too!" she giggled. She stood up on the bench and gave Addison a big sticky, surprise hug. "See you later Miss Addison!" Katie squealed as she jumped off the bench and ran off after Matthew.

-----------------------

Addison walked over to the main picnic table where all of the picnic supplies were, she grabbed a napkin and Rebecca walked over to her. "Hey, I'm sorry about that. Are you ok?" Rebecca asked Addison.

"Yeah, its fine. Um. It should come out." Addison said, trying not to get upset.

"So what brings you to town?" Mark says, coming up from behind Rebecca, finally getting enough courage to talk to Addison.

"Oh, I came in for a consult for Preston, Its nice to see you Mark, your son is adorable."

"I see he has already made his mark." Mark said laughing, pointing out the soda stain on Addison's shirt.

"Uh, yeah. He sure did." Addison laughed nervously. "AHH!" Addison squeals as she feels a stream of water running down her back and leg and suddenly hears gales of laughter behind her. She turns around and Katie is behind her with a water gun trying to hit Matthew, who is hiding on the other side of Addison.

Matthew moves in front of Addison and tries to get Katie and they continue squirting and running around Addison until finally, Derek comes over and grabs the water guns from them. He gives Addison an apologetic look. "Sorry." He says as he takes the water guns inside of the house.

-----------------------

Across the yard, Meredith and Cristina stand under an umbrella drinking iced tea, talking.

"Did you see what Matthew did to her?" Meredith asked.

"You mean the grape soda thing. I know! Who wears designer clothes to a barbeque!" Cristina says.

"We are such snobs." Meredith says.

"Shut up, we are not, we are just two women who enjoy our daily dose of karma." Cristina responded as she sipped her tea.

-----------------------

When the burgers and hotdogs were all done, everyone sat down at the picnic tables to eat. Izzie brought out her 'famous potato salad' and Cristina brought out some fruit salad that she had made and everyone gathered around the tables and sat down.

"I WANNA SIT NEXT TO MISS ADDISON!" Katie exclaimed.

"No, Katherine, leave Addison alone, you can sit next to mama." Derek said.

"NO, no no nono!!!" Katie said arguing.

"Fine, you can sit wherever you want." Derek said, trying to avoid a confrontation of the Katie kind. Katie grins and pulls her hand out of Derek's and runs over next to Addison.

"Hi Miss Addison." Katie says grinning as she leans across the table to Addison, who has a plateful of food in front of her.

"Hi Katie." Addison says politely.

"Can I have a bite of your hotdog?" Katie asks.

"Nope, your daddy is getting you one, sweetheart."

"No, I want your hotdog." Katie said, pouting.

"Sorry, sweetheart, you can't have it."

"I WANT IT!" Katie screams reaching to grab Addison's hotdog. Addison reaches out and lightly grabs her hand.

Katie opens her mouth and goes in to bite Addison's hand, to which Addison promptly gives her a light smack on the cheek.

Everyone at the table goes silent.  
Meredith and Derek both stand up at the same time.

"Addison!" Derek says angrily. Addison just looks at him, feeling helpless and small. Everyone else is looking to see what else is going to be said. Katie's lip begins to tremble and her cheeks begin to turn red in embarrassment.

Meredith walks over to Katie and lifts her off the bench. She turns to Addison and says very politely. "Addison, I'm sorry about that. Thank you for disciplining her, its about time someone besides me did it." She shoots Derek a glare and begins to carry Katie towards the house. 

"NO NO NO!! I WANNA GO BACK!! MISS ADDISON YOU ARE NOT MY BEST FRIEND ANYMORE!!! I DON'T WANNA GO TO BED!!!" Katie screams the whole way into the house.

Everyone at the dinner table begins to eat once again, this time in an uncomfortable silence.

-----------------------

Fifteen minutes later, Meredith emerged from the house, holding Katie's hand. Katherine had calmed down considerably and they walked up to the table. Everyone watched as Katie walked over to Addison.

"Miss Addison, my mommy told me to…" Meredith put her hand on Katie's shoulder. Katie looked up at Meredith's stern look. "Miss Addison, I wanna say I am sorry, sorry I yelled at you and was being bad. I promise I will be better next time. Will you still be my friend?" Katie asked quietly.

"Of course I'll be your friend. Would you like to sit next to me?" Addison asked, smiling at Katie and smiling up at Meredith.

Katie looked over at Meredith, who nodded, and looked down at the bench next to Addison. "Yes please." Katie said as she sat down next to Addison.

Katie looked over at Derek across the table. "Daddy, may I please have a hot dog? I want ketchup on it, like Miss Addison!" Katie exclaimed.

"Coming right up." Derek said as he grabbed the Ketchup bottle and a hotdog and the picnic conversation went back to a normal level.

Meredith walked over to the other side of the table and whispered into Derek's ear. "You, Me, Kitchen, NOW." 

-----------------------

Derek watched Meredith walk towards the house, he handed Katie her hot dog. "Addison, could you keep an eye on her for a second, I have to go… um…I have to go check on something." Derek said as he got up, Addison nodded.

"Uh oh." Katie whispered to Addison. "Daddy is in big trouble."

-----------------------

Derek followed Meredith into the house and walked into the door to find Meredith standing in the middle of the kitchen with her hands on her hips.

"What?" Derek asked.

"What? Did you just ask me WHAT? Seriously, Derek."

"What? Why did you drag me in here."

"You totally just made an ass out of yourself out there. Do you realize that? Our daughter was trying to bite one of our guests, and all you could do was sit there and yell at Addison. What were you thinking?"

"What do you mean? She slapped her!"

"She gave your spoiled daughter what she deserved. Derek, I am serious, and don't take this the wrong way, but if you cannot learn to discipline her and tell her when she is wrong, then I don't think you should be around her." Meredith yelled.

"You did NOT just say that!" Derek yelled.

"What Derek? Does the truth hurt? All I know is that before you came around, that little girl was an angel. She was sweet, innocent, polite. Since you set foot in my house, she has been irritable, spoiled and angry. I'm not saying that you're what caused it, but I'm saying you need to do something to fix it."

"If you can do so well on your own, why don't you raise her by YOURSELF!" Derek snapped back.

"Why don't I?" Meredith screamed, pausing to stare Derek in the eyes. "I'm going back to the picnic; you do whatever the hell you want to do." Meredith yelled as she turned and walked back out the door, leaving Derek sulking in the kitchen.

-----------------------

Derek eventually joined everyone outside and the rest of the picnic went on without incident. Izzie and George helped Meredith and Derek clean up the food and everything outside, they could feel the tension in the air between Meredith and Derek. They wouldn't speak to one another, they wouldn't look at one another.

As Izzie and George were in their car getting ready to leave, Meredith leaned over to the window. "Thanks for coming guys, I'll see you later." Meredith said quietly.

"Mer, are you alright, do you need anything?" George asked concerned.

"Nah, um… I think I'll be fine, if I need something, I'll be sure to let you know. Thanks guys." Meredith said as she waved goodbye to them as they drove off.

-----------------------

Four hours later, a thunderstorm had started and it was raining pretty hard. George sits on the couch watching television while Izzie made herself busy in the kitchen. George thinks he hears a light tapping at the door so he goes over to see what it is.

There, standing outside the door is a very soaked Meredith Grey, holding a bundle of blankets with Jack snuggled in, and little Katie by her side. George quickly opens the door.

"UNCLE GEORGIE!" Katie squeals as she grabs ahold of his leg and squeezes.

"Mer?" George said stunned.

"George, I need something."

-----------------------

"Meredith, what happened?" George asked, taking Jack from her arms.

"George, who is at the…." Izzie asks, walking into the living room. "Meredith!"

"Aunt Izzie!" Katie squeals running over to give her a hug too.

Izzie scoops up Katie and walks towards Meredith. She sees that Meredith is soaking wet, as if she had been standing out on the porch having second thoughts about coming back, she had tears mixed with the raindrops, her hair a mess, her clothes disheveled. Jack looked like he had just been grabbed from his bed and put into the car hastily, Katie was in her pajamas.

"Meredith, what happened?" George repeated.

-----------------------

"Meredith, what happened?" George asked, taking Jack from her arms.

"George, who is at the…." Izzie asks, walking into the living room. "Meredith!"

"Aunt Izzie!" Katie squeals running over to give her a hug too.

Izzie scoops up Katie and walks towards Meredith. She sees that Meredith is soaking wet, as if she had been standing out on the porch having second thoughts about coming back, she had tears mixed with the raindrops, her hair a mess, her clothes disheveled. Jack looked like he had just been grabbed from his bed and put into the car hastily, Katie was in her pajamas.

"Meredith, what happened?" George repeated.

"I left." Meredith said in a whimper.

"You left." George stated.

"I left." Meredith repeated.

"You left?" Izzie asked, setting Katie back down on the floor.

"I left, I just left, I packed up the kids, and I left. I can't take him anymore. He takes everything I say to heart, he can't discipline the kids, he treats that one over there like little miss princess, and he treats me like crap. He dared me to leave, I told him I was going to leave and he told me that I wouldn't. I can take care of myself, I can take care of my kids by myself. I don't need him!" Meredith sobbed.

Izzie walked over and hugged Meredith, while George just stood there holding Jack in his arms, an incredulous look on his face.

"I'm just going to go upstairs to my old room, I needed time to think. Do you know what I mean?" Meredith says as she takes Jack from George and walks towards the stairs.

"No." George says simply.

"What?" Meredith asks.

"No, Meredith, you can't stay here. You have to go back home to Derek." George says.

Meredith stops on the stairs and looks at George, her head tilts curiously. "What do you mean I can't stay here?"

"Meredith, you cannot stay here, you don't live here, you have to go back home." George says, beginning to get angry.

"George." Izzie says, reaching for his arm, Katie is hiding behind Izzie's legs.

"No, Izzie. Meredith, you can't run away from it, you can't do it alone, you can't raise them alone, you need someone Meredith, you need Derek. We can't keep being your fallback plan every time you have a fight with Derek. You need to let go, you need to deal with your own problems instead of constantly running away from them!" George said.

Meredith stood there and stared at George for a moment, taking in what he said. "Shut up, George. Just shut up." Meredith says and turns and continues up the stairs to her room. "Katie, get up here, leave Uncle Grumpy alone." Meredith called upstairs, and Katie ran upstairs to Meredith.

-----------------------

Twenty minutes later, there is a knock at the door. Izzie goes to the door, and Derek is standing there, holding Jack's car seat in his hands. Izzie opens the door and lets him in.

He points upstairs with a questioning glance. Izzie nods and Derek goes upstairs. Izzie listens and hears him open and close the bedroom door. There is a little bit of arguing at first, then Izzie hears a little bit of a scuffle. The next thing she knows, the bedroom door is opening and Katie comes running downstairs.

"Daddy is a caveman!" Katie giggles as she puts her shoes on.

"Daddy is a caveman?" Izzie asked with a smile.

Izzie hears a commotion upstairs and looks up the stairs and sees Derek carrying Meredith over his shoulder down the stairs, with Jack in his car seat in his other hand. Meredith is smacking his back with her fists and laughing hysterically.

"What is this?" Izzie asks with a laugh.

"She said I was a caveman that didn't know how to act civilly, I'm showing her how cavemen really act. We'll be leaving her car here overnight, we'll pick it up tomorrow."

"Let me down!" Meredith squeals with laugher.

"Me no understand." Derek said with a smile. "Let's go Katie-bug." Derek says opening the door, Katie runs outside to the car making caveman sounds. "See you tomorrow Izzie."

"See you guys. Behave yourselves!" Izzie says as the family walks/is carried out the door.

Derek deposited Meredith in the car and put the kids in their car seats and jumps into the driver side. "So you ran away from home, huh?" Derek said with a laugh.

Meredith stopped laughing and crossed her arms across her chest with a scowl. "Yes I ran away from home."

"Oh, so now you're in a bad mood, just a second ago you were laughing your head off."

"Uncle Georgie yelled at mommy!" Katie said from the back seat.

"What? George yelled at you?" Derek asked concerned as he pulled out of the driveway.

"No." Meredith said defiantly.

"Yes he did mommy. Don't tell a fib!" Katie exclaims from the back seat.

"Katherine, what did mommy say about keeping quiet?"

"Which mommy do I listen to? The one that says to be quiet or the one that says not to tell a fib?"

"Right now, it's the one that says be quiet." Meredith turns her head and gives Katie a smile, to let her know that she's just kidding around.

"What did George yell at you about?" Derek asked.

"I said he didn't yell at me." Meredith said. 

"Fine. Don't tell me." Derek said as he silently continued home.

Several minutes pass and Meredith finally has enough of the silence. "Fine. He told me that I couldn't stay there."

"Meredith, its your house, did you tell him that?" Derek laughed.

"No, I was too shocked that George was yelling at me. He told me to go home, and that I should stop using them as a fallback. He told me that I couldn't raise the kids on my own and to stop running away from my problems. George is a jerk."

"Do you believe it?"

Meredith pauses for a moment. "I did think about it when I was upstairs and I guess he is kind of right, I do tend to run away from my problems and frustrations. I guess that sometimes I feel too weak to deal with things that are coming head on, and when something doesn't go the way it should or 'people' don't act the way I want them to, I feel out of control and it makes me just want to leave." Meredith explained.  
"Well, I'm glad that you thought about it. But, what I actually meant was… do you really believe that George is a jerk." Derek laughed.

"I really wish I could say what I want to say right now." Meredith laughed as she playfully smacked Derek on the arm..

"Well, why don't we wait until we're in the comfort of our bedroom." Derek winked.

-----------------------

Derek pulls the car up to the house. Both kids are sleeping in the back seat of the car. Derek jumped out of his side and opened Meredith's door for her. Meredith gets out and reaches for the passenger side door in the back.

"Nope." Derek says, taking her hand. He lifts her hand to his lips and lightly kisses it. "You go on in, I'll get the munchkins." Derek says with a sweet tone to his voice.

"Derek Shepherd thinks he's getting some tonight." Meredith said with a sing-song voice as she turned towards the house.

Derek just smiled at her as he opened the door and carefully lifted Katie out onto his shoulder, and reached in and grabbed Jack's carseat. He followed Meredith up the steps and she held the door open for him as he brought both sleeping children upstairs to bed.

After tucking the kids into their beds, he walked down the hallway to his bedroom and attempted to open the door, he tried to turn the doorknob, but he found that Meredith had locked the door.

"Meredith?" He whispers.

"Derek?" Meredith whispers back.

"The door is locked."

"I know."

"Why is the door locked?"

"Because I locked it."

"Why did you lock it?"

"Because I'm still mad at you."

"You're still mad at me?"

"Yes."

"Why?"

"Because you're an ass."

"Where am I going to sleep?"

"On the couch."

"On the couch?"

"On the couch."

"Fine, I'll go sleep on the couch." Derek says as he turns and walks towards the stairs.

Suddenly, the bedroom door flies open, Meredith runs up to him and grabs his arm, making him turn around, she gets in his face and starts to whisper loudly. "See Derek? See what you did right there? That is what I'm talking about, you're a pushover, you let me take control of the situation and you didn't even try to fight back. I did that….."

Meredith's tirade was cut short when Derek lifted his hands and lightly placed them in her hair, he took the back of her head and he pulled it towards himself, he pushed his lips hard against hers, she resisted at first, wanting to finish her thought when she just gave in and began to kiss him passionately.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and lifted herself up to wrap her legs around his hips. He wrapped his arms around her waist as he carried her, still kissing into the bedroom. Derek swung his foot back and closed the door and held on to Meredith with one hand while he clicked the lock. He stood over the bottom bed, still kissing and he put his hands on her waist and pulled his head away for a moment.

"You think you're so smart." Derek said, with a look of fierce passion in his eyes.

"I am smart." Meredith said, breathless. Her eyes filled with an undying hunger.

Derek took his hands and he lifted her from his body and he gently threw her onto the bed on her back. He climbed onto the bed, holding her wrists down on either side of her, he kneeled and straddled her body as he kissed her neck making her giggle.

"What are you doing?" Meredith giggled.

"I'm showing you that I'm not a pushover." Derek said as he flicked his tongue out along her neck, giving her shivers and making the hair on the back of her neck stand on end.

-----------------------

The next morning while on the way to the hospital, both Meredith and Derek were paged by Preston. They looked at one another and shrugged as they pulled into the hospital parking lot. They took Katie and Jack down to the nursery and both went up to Preston's office.

"Dr. Burke." Derek said as he came into Preston's office with a smile and a handshake.

"Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Grey." Preston nodded as he shook their hands. "Why don't you close the door and come on in, I have something to discuss with you." Preston said. Derek closed the door and they sat down at the desk.

"What is it Preston?" Meredith asked nervously as she shifted in her chair.

"Well Meredith, It has come to my attention that you two have been having some problems at home. You have been working hard here and you have been struggling to balance work and family and friends. You have been through hell and back between one thing or another, and Katie's situation. I have arranged a trip for you to Monterey Bay, California. All arrangements have been made, you will be leaving tomorrow evening. You will be staying there for two weeks, no excuses."

"Preston, we can't take a vacation, we can't leave the kids. We have work, we have surgeries scheduled. Preston, this isn't a good idea at all." Derek says.

"I was pretty sure I said a moment ago that there would be no excuses." Preston said stubbornly. "The children will be well taken care of, they will be spending their days at Chateau Burke. There will be nothing to fear, they will be well taken care of. Katie has her EpiPen and if there are any allergy problems, we will be aware of them immediately. We will watch the house; the dog will be taken out. You are going on vacation; here are your plane tickets, and the accommodation information is also included. Have a nice day." Preston said as he handed them their tickets.

"Um. Thank you." Meredith stuttered as she stared at the plane tickets. "Are you sure?"

Preston looked down at his desk and began to read something. "I am absolutely certain Dr. Grey, go and have a good time, Cristina will take the kids home with her after her shift tomorrow. Have a good trip."


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35-

The next evening, Derek and Meredith packed their clothes in a sort of a haze, not really fully comprehending that they were on their way to the beach for a vacation. It had been so long since they had been on vacation that it felt so strange to be going on one, especially since they were not expecting it.

They arrived in California at 8pm, their plane landed and they had a rental car all ready at the airport. They drove down to Monterey Bay, following the directions that were given by Preston in their travel packet. They pulled up to a beautiful Victorian style bed and breakfast, Derek parked the car and grabbed their bags from the trunk and they went to their room.

They entered the suite that was under their name and they were immediately impressed by the beauty of the room. It was decorated with Victorian furniture, with a large four poster king size bed. The bed was covered in satin linens and the room was filled with bouquets of lavender and lilacs. A bottle of wine and a basket with cheese and crackers sit in the center of the table in the room. The bathroom was enormous, with a large claw foot tub and several baskets of bath salts and bubble bath.

"Wow, Preston has really outdone himself." Derek says entering the room.

"I am very impressed." Meredith says. "Can I do it now?" Meredith asks, a question she had been asking for several hours.

"Yes, you can. But don't be long." Derek said, watching Meredith pull her cell phone out of her purse.

"Hello? Cristina?" "Hello?" Meredith hangs up the phone and throws it on the bed. "She hung up on me!" Meredith says.

"She hung up on you?"

"Yeah, she said 'Meredith, they are fine, don't call again' and she hung up on me!"

"If I were you, I'd listen to her." Derek laughed. He picked up the bottle of wine and looked at Meredith. He walked closer to her, with a passionate fire in his eyes. "Why don't we go take this bottle of wine, and go sit out on our balcony, to wind down and enjoy our first night of vacation?"

Meredith unbuttons the top two buttons of his shirt and reaches up to kiss him. "That sounds like a plan." She giggled as she grabbed his hand and the two wine glasses from the table and pulled him out to the balcony.

-----------------------

The next morning, Meredith woke in a tangle of satin. She rolled over to find that she was lying in the big bed alone. She looked to the balcony and she could see a tangled head of black hair sitting in one of the wicker chairs. She turned to pick up her cell phone from the bedside table.

"Damn." She said picking it up.

She untangled herself from the sheets and covered herself with the terrycloth robe that was provided. She opened the French doors to the balcony and stepped onto it. "Did you take the battery from my cell phone?" Meredith asked, holding up her phone without the battery.

"Who? Me?" Derek asked with a sly grin, from his spot on the chair. He is wrapped in his own terrycloth robe, reading a book.

"Come on, let me check in on my babies!" Meredith whined.

"Your babies are fine. They are being tended to by a cardiothoracic surgeon and a surgical resident, two people who are very capable of taking care of a baby and a five year old. Don't you trust them?" Derek asked.

"Well, yeah… but… I … Derek! They're my babies!"

Derek stood up and kissed the top of Meredith's head, he placed his fingers on her chin and brought her eyes to meet his. "Your babies will be fine. If there are any problems, Burke or Cristina will page me. Then we will call them. We are on vacation, we are together, now go get ready, we're going to the beach." Derek said as his fingers trailed down her neck to the edge of her robe. He traced his fingers along the edge of her robe and pulled it away from her body right above her breasts just a bit so that he could peek down her robe. He raised his eyebrows and gave her his McDreamy smile "We're going to the beach in a little while, let's go get ready." He says as he grabs her hand and pulls her into the room, closing the French doors behind him.

-----------------------

Derek and Meredith spent the day shopping, picking seashells, and just relaxing on the beach. At first, Meredith would ask Derek every hour when she could call and check up on the kids, to which Derek's response was to kiss her on the cheek and tell her everything was just fine. As the day went on, Meredith asked him less frequently, and her smile became more prevalent as it was obvious that her worries were disappearing with each passing moment.

That evening, Meredith and Derek sat out beside the ocean on their lounge chairs watching the sunset. The beach was nearly empty, it was a private beach for only their bed and breakfast, so there were hardly any people around. Meredith stood up suddenly and started for the water.

"What are you doing?" Derek asked, watching her pick up a stick from the ground and walk down the beach a little.

"Nothin." She said with a grin as she stood in the wet sand, the waves pushing over her feet, the wet sand seeping between her toes as she could feel her self sink in a little deeper.

"Really, what are you doing?" Derek asked, smiling at how cute she looked sinking into the sand with that big grin on her face. "You have that look that Katie gets when she's up to something." Derek said as he stood up and walked closer to her.

"I'm not up to anything." She said innocently, as she glanced out to the sun disappearing over the horizon, listening to the sound of the waves splashing at her feet.

Derek walked up to her and put his finger on her chin, bringing her focus back to him. "When was the last time you were at a place as beautiful as this?" Derek asked.

"Derek, I honestly cannot remember." She said, looking into his eyes, her smile replaced by a look of sincerity. She suddenly jumps backwards a little, a smile returning to her face and she swings the stick that she has around. "When I was a little girl, I used to play a game when I'd come to the beach."

"What kind of game?"

"Well. It wasn't really a game, per se. It was more of a 'therapy' for me, when I was sad."

"And what is that?" Derek asked, looking into her shining blue eyes as she prepared to tell him.

"Well, as the sun is setting, you get a stick. You stand by the ocean in the wet sand and you scrawl something into the sand with the stick." Meredith said, skipping about in the waves.

Derek followed her curiously. "What would you scrawl?" He asked smiling as he watched her flit about the waves happily.

"You would scrawl a word. It can be a feeling, a person, an unpleasant experience. But it can only be one word. You scrawl it in the wet sand and you step back as the waves take the word and wipe it away. You could do it as many times as you wanted, with as many different words. The point, Derek, is that you're telling the ocean to take that worry, that fear, that anger, and you're letting the ocean take it away with it." Meredith explained, and looked up into Derek's eyes.

Derek stepped forward to Meredith, so he is standing in front of her. "So what you're saying, is that when you come to the ocean, and you have things weighing on your mind, you will be able to leave with a clear head?"

"Exactly." She said as she stood on her tiptoes and kissed him on the nose.

"And when is the game over?" Derek asked.

"The game is over when the last bit of sun goes over the horizon, but your worries are gone, and you can go to sleep with a clear head and a smile on your face." Meredith smiled. "You know what?" Meredith said smiling.

"What?"

"You can't catch me!" Meredith exclaimed as she took off running down the beach laughing.

"Hey, you get back here!" He laughed as he ran after her.

-----------------------

The next morning, Meredith woke up again, alone in the bed among a tangle of satin sheets. This time, Derek was not out on the balcony, in fact, he was nowhere to be seen. Meredith lifted herself from her bed and looked at the clock, to her surprise, it was already noon. She couldn't remember the last time that she had slept in this late. Just then, the door opens and Derek enters holding several shopping bags in his hands. He is holding the cell phone to his ear talking.

"Yep, now you be a good girl, say hi to mommy." Derek says, holding the phone tightly in his hand and putting it up to Meredith's ear.

"Hi sweetheart, how are you?" Meredith says into the phone trying to grab it out of his hand, before Derek swings the phone back to his own ear.

"Alright sweetie, you be a good girl and we'll see you soon. We love you." Derek said and flipped the phone closed.

"Hey! I wanted to talk to her!" Meredith complained.

"She's doing fine, she's playing 'clean up your mess' with aunt Cristina. Stop worrying. Look! I brought you breakfast." He said with a grin, holding up a bag of donuts.

"Oh, so healthy!" Meredith said, grabbing the bag from his hand.

"They didn't have any cold pizza in stock. Eat up, we're having a late dinner tonight, I have plans for us this evening." Derek said smiling.

"What kind of plans?"

"You'll see. I bought you a present." Derek says, pulling out a dress box from one of his bags.

"What is this?" She asked, smiling broadly.

"Open it up!" Derek said, his smile matching hers.

Meredith took the top off the box and was absolutely stunned by its contents. Inside, lay a beautiful sundress. It was white, with spaghetti straps. It had flowing skirt and sprigs of lavender had been embroidered along the neckline and the bottom of the skirt.

"Where did you find this?" Meredith said, still breathless about the beautiful dress.

"I saw it at a little shop yesterday, I thought that you might like it." Derek smiled. "That's not the only surprise waiting for you." Derek said as he sat on the bed, putting the dress onto the table and grabbing the bag of donuts from her side.

"Oh yeah?" She said, grabbing it back.

"Yeah." He said, reaching over to give her a kiss and snatches the bag back.

-----------------------

Derek and Meredith spent the afternoon on a boat ride and when they were done, Derek drove them both back to their room.

"Meredith, why don't you go put your dress on, and get ready for your next surprise." Derek said to her as he began to change out of his shorts.

Meredith took her dress and a couple other things into the bathroom to change. When she emerged from the bathroom, Derek was not in the room. She walked out of the bathroom and could see him standing out on the balcony, looking out onto the ocean. She came up behind him and put her hand in his.

"Hey, what are you thinking about?" She said softly, to get his attention.

He turned around and was about to answer when the sight before him took his breath away. She looked even more beautiful in the dress than he had ever imagined. She had put her hair up in a loose bun and wisps of hair hung down on the side, framing her face.

"You're dressed up too!" She said smiling as she noticed that he was wearing long pants and a dress shirt with a tie.

Derek just stood there, staring at her for several more seconds before he finally found his voice again. "Yeah. I thought we would have a nice romantic dinner, but first, your surprise." Derek said as he put his arm out. She put her arm through his and he led her to the outside of the bed and breakfast.

He led her around to the other side of the building, where a carriage wait, with two white horses in the front, and a driver sitting atop.

"Mr. Shepherd?" The driver inquired.

"Yes sir." Derek said as he helped the man down from his perch atop the carriage.

"Ms. Grey." The driver said, bowing. Meredith's eyes lit up in surprise, and the smile across her face was like nothing that Derek had ever seen. The driver put the steps to the carriage down for his customers and watched as Derek carefully lifted Meredith atop. He stepped onto the carriage and sat as the driver went back to his perch.

"Where are we going?" Meredith whispered, her smile, never fading for a moment.

"First, we're going for a little carriage ride, and then, we're going to dinner." Derek smiled, his heart fluttering as he watched her face glow with a happiness that he had only dreamed of. The horses began to move.

The carriage took them on the path along the beach, Derek and Meredith laughing and talking the whole way.

"Look Derek! A wedding!" Meredith exclaimed, pointing out a gathering of elegantly dressed people on the beach in the distance. "I would love to get married on the beach." Meredith said with a smile, as she watched the people on the beach getting their pictures taken with the ocean as their backdrop. The women wore long flowing lavender dresses and the men were dressed in their tuxedos. Meredith sighed at the thought.

They continued their trip on the path, watching the wedding party in the distance, when Meredith watched as one of the groomsmen lost his grip on the little flower girl's hand. The little ring bearer was soon following after. She ran along the beach with her long lavender dress flowing out behind her. The slight sound of her giggle mixed in with the sound of the rolling waves. The groomsman chases after the children at a fast run and soon scoops up the little ring bearer under one arm. Meredith giggles at the scene before her. The little flower girl, is much further along the beach, flitting about the waves, her dress flowing in the ocean breeze like butterfly wings. When suddenly Meredith turns to Derek.

"Derek. What is going on?" Meredith says, her face gone from a full blown smile, to a look of immediate shock.

"What do you mean?" Derek says with a beautiful smile.

"Why is Katherine over there on the beach, being chased by George?"

Derek smiles, a McDreamy smile. "You said you wanted to have a beach wedding. Well, your wish is my command." He says, reaching out for her hand, bringing it to his lips.

"Seriously?" Meredith said, a shocked look still across her face.

The realization of what is going on around her is so surreal, she is still in a haze. She looks out over the beach and sees George snatch up Katie and carry both children, giggling and laughing back to the rest of the wedding party. He leans over and whispers to someone and points in the direction of the carriage, everyone looks over.

Derek leans over to the driver and directs him to the path that goes down to the water, near the gathering of everyone. Meredith sees Katie try to jump out of George's arms when she sees the carriage coming down the path. She is wiggling violently against his grip, and it makes Meredith giggle a little.

Before Derek knew it, Meredith's grin was even brighter than it had been before. The carriage stopped a little bit away from everyone and the driver jumped down from atop it. He put the steps down and Derek quickly descended. Meredith stood at the top as Derek held out his hand and helped her to the ground. Everyone cheered when they began to walk arm in arm down the small path to where everyone was gathered. Izzie, Cristina, and Rebecca all closed in on Meredith and whisked her from Derek's side, and Derek walked over to Burke, Mark and George. Mark handed Jack over to Derek, he was dressed up in his own little tuxedo, and was very happy to see Derek. George released the children and Katie ran quickly to her mother's side.

"MAMA MAMA!" Katie squealed as she ran to her mother's open arms.

"Katie-bug! You look so beautiful!" Meredith exclaimed as she scooped Katie into her arms.

"Aunt Izzie picked it out, its purple! Mama, you look beautiful too!" Katie exclaimed.

"Thank you my little princess." Meredith said, giving Katie a kiss on her nose to make her giggle. "What is this?" Meredith asked as she gave Cristina, Izzie and Rebecca a hug while still holding Katie.

"This, is your wedding." Izzie laughed.  
Meredith looked around at the set up on the beach. There were white chairs set up in rows, with a small arbor in the front, with a little podium for the officiant. Guests had arrived from all over, Derek's family was there, his sisters and their family. Meredith was amazed by how many people from the hospital were there, she wondered who was actually at the hospital this evening if everyone was here.

Tall white candles were speared into the ground on the outside of the aisle and the sun was beginning to dip lower in the sky. The beautiful red sun was almost touching the horizon and could be seen perfectly through the arbor. The guests were seated as Meredith talked with Cristina, Izzie, and Rebecca. Alex approached Meredith from the side.

"Meredith?" Alex said quietly.

"Alex!" Meredith said as she gave him a big hug. "What is it?" Meredith asked.

"Well, Chief Webber wasn't able to attend, since someone of rank has to be at the hospital. He asked me if I would be so honored as to give you away tonight. I would like it if you would accept that offer, for both me and Chief Webber." Alex said politely.

"You want to give me away?" Meredith asked, flattered by the gesture.

"Yes I would. It would be an honor." Alex said, with a sideways grin.

Meredith put Katie down on the ground and gave Alex a big hug. He didn't fight back, but he did attempt to wipe the stray tear from his eye without his friend seeing it.

Cristina got Meredith's attention to let her know that the ceremony was going to begin soon. Before they knew it, the guests were beginning to quiet. 

Rebecca handed out the bouquets to each of the girls, and handed the flower basket to Katie, and the ring pillow to Matthew. Meredith's bouquet was a beautiful array of lavender sprigs and calla lilies, Meredith couldn't stop smiling the entire time she was getting ready. She was so wrapped up in the preparation, that she didn't notice Derek, standing at the makeshift altar with his groomsmen, staring lovingly at her.

When everyone in the procession was ready, Cristina gave the signal to Derek, who nodded. Suddenly, from the other side of the group of guests, on a small platform, came the sweet sound of a harpists tune. Meredith couldn't believe her ears when she heard the heavenly music. She turned and looked directly into Derek's loving stare for a moment and mouthed the words. "I love you."


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36-

She turned and looked directly into Derek's loving stare and mouthed the words. "I love you."

Derek returned her sentiment with a McDreamy smile and the procession began. Cristina entered the aisle first, followed by Izzie, and then Rebecca. They followed one another to the arbor, and stood in line waiting for Matthew to make his way down the aisle. He walked slowly down the aisle in his little tuxedo, his face held a very serious look, a very proud smile lit up his face.

He walked to Mark and stood in front of him with the pillow, still holding that stoic, proud face. Katherine was next, she carried her little basket of flower petals happily and slowly and smiled the entire time. She would pick on petal out at a time and gently drop it to the sand as she walked closer, smiling at Derek the entire time. He nodded to her to let her know she was doing a good job, and she smiled even brighter. When she got to the end of the aisle, she looked in her basket and saw that she still had several petals left, so she took a handful and dropped them at the end of the aisle, before Cristina reached out and gently took her arm to bring her out of the aisle.

Suddenly, the harpist began to play the wedding march and Meredith and Alex walked their way down the aisle slowly. Meredith didn't take her eyes off of Derek the entire time, their eyes remained locked her entire way down the aisle. She was totally oblivious to everyone around her. Right at that moment, the only two people in the world, were her and Derek.

----------------------

Suddenly, the harpist began to play the wedding march and Meredith and Alex walked their way down the aisle slowly. Meredith didn't take her eyes off of Derek the entire time, their eyes remained locked her entire way down the aisle. She was totally oblivious to everyone around her. Right at that moment, the only two people in the world, were her and Derek.

When Meredith reached the end of the aisle, Alex and Meredith stop before the officiant.

"Who gives this woman, to be married to this man?" The officiant asks.

"I do." Alex replies, he reaches over and kisses Meredith lightly on the cheek and sits down. Meredith steps forward and stands next to Cristina, across from Derek, staring deeply into his eyes. She barely even hears the officiant speaking.

"I require, and charge you both, That if either of you know any Impediment, why you may not Be lawfully joined together in matrimony, you confess it now." The officiant states. Both Meredith and Derek just continue to stare into one another's eyes.

"This is the day you have chosen to become husband and wife. We are here, not only to witness your commitment to each other, but also to wish you every happiness in your future life together."

"Within its framework of commitment, and loyalty, marriage enables the establishment of a home, where through trust, ----- patience and respect, the love and affection, which you have for each other may develop into a deep and lasting relationship."

"We, who are witnessing your marriage, hope that despite the stresses inevitable in any life, your Love, Respect for each other, and your trust and understanding of each other will increase your contentment, and heighten your joy in living."

The officiant turns to Derek.

"Derek Michael Shepherd, do you take Meredith Leigh Grey for your lawful wedded wife? Will you love, honor, comfort and cherish her from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only to her, for as long as you both shall live?"

Derek's voice was barely above a whisper, his breath had been taken away by the raw passion that he saw in Meredith's eyes. "I do." He whispered, watching her eyes light up like a thousand candles

The officiant turned to Meredith. "Meredith Leigh Grey, do you take Derek Michael Shepherd for your lawful wedded husband? Will you love, honor, comfort and cherish him from this day forward, forsaking all others, keeping only him, for as long as you both shall live?

Meredith's breath was also taken away by the dreamy look in Derek's eyes. She let go of the breath that she didn't realize she was holding in, to whisper. "I do."

"Before the couple recites their marriage vows, members of the bridal party would like to say a prayer or poem for the couple and their love." The officiant explained. Mark stepped forward and gently unwrapped a piece of paper that he held in his pocket.

----------------------

"Before the couple recites their marriage vows, members of the bridal party would like to say a prayer or poem for the couple and their love." The officiant explained. Mark stepped forward and gently unwrapped a piece of paper that he held in his pocket.

"Derek, please hold Meredith's hands palms up, where you may see the gift that they are to you."

Derek reaches over to Meredith and takes both hands in his, turning her palms upwards.

"These are the hands, smooth, young and carefree, that are holding yours on your wedding day, as she pledges her love and commitment to you for all the days of her life."

"These are the hands that will hold each child in tender love, soothing them through illness and hurts, supporting and encouraging them along the way, and knowing when its time to let go."

"These are the hands that will hold you tight as you struggle through difficult times."

" These are the hands that will comfort you when you are sick or console you when you are grieving. These are the hands that will passionately love you and cherish you through the years, for a lifetime of happiness."

"These are the hands that will hold you in joy and excitement and hope, each time she tells you that you are to have another child; that together you have created a new life."

"These are the hands that will give you support as she encourages you to chase down your dreams. Together, as a team, everything you wish for can be realized."

Mark finished and pulled a handkerchief from his pocket, and lightly wiped his eyes. He gave a quick glance to Rebecca, who stand next to Izzie, with tears in her eyes. Meredith and Derek continue to hold hands as he steps back into line with George and Burke and waits for the next speech.

Cristina is the next to step forward.

----------------------

"The little things are the big things.  
It is never being too old to hold hands.  
It is remembering to say "I love you" at least once a day."

"It is never going to sleep angry.  
It is at no time taking the other for granted;  
the courtship should not end with the honeymoon,  
it should continue through all the years."

"It is having a mutual sense of values and common objectives.  
It is standing together facing the world.  
It is forming a circle of love that gathers in the whole family.  
It is doing things for each other, not in the attitude of duty or sacrifice,  
but in the spirit of joy."

"It is speaking words of appreciation and demonstrating  
gratitude in thoughtful ways.  
It is not expecting the husband to wear a halo or the wife to have wings of an angel.  
It is not looking for perfection in each other."

"It is cultivating flexibility, patience, understanding and a sense of humor.  
It is having the capacity to forgive and forget.  
It is giving each other an atmosphere in which each can grow."

"It is finding room for the things of the spirit.  
It is a common search for the good and the beautiful.  
It is establishing a relationship in which the independence is equal, dependence is mutual and the obligation is reciprocal.  
It is not only marrying the right partner, it is being the right partner."

Cristina ended and stepped back, she looked around at those in the wedding party. Izzie was crying her eyes out next to her, there were several guests crying, and Meredith was just looking at her with a happy, elated look. She looked into Meredith's eyes and whispered. "My speech at the reception is going to be much better." She laughed nervously. Meredith laughed too, and they turned to look at the officiant.

"It is now that the bride and groom will make their marriage vows to one another. They have both written their own vows and will recite them now."

Meredith gives Derek a half panicked look and he just looks at her calmly and smiles. She immediately relaxes, as if his eyes put her in a trance as he begins his vows.

----------------------

"It is now that the bride and groom will make their marriage vows to one another. They have both written their own vows and will recite them now."

Meredith gives Derek a half panicked look and he just looks at her calmly and smiles. She immediately relaxes, as if his eyes put her in a trance as he begins his vows.

He stares directly into Meredith's eyes and recites his vows from memory. 

"As we stand beside the ocean tide,  
may our love always be as  
constant and unchanging as these  
never-ending waves that pour  
beneath our feet, flowing endlessly  
from the depths of the sea;  
your love  
came softly upon my heart,  
just as the foam comes  
softly upon the sand, and just as  
there will never be a morning  
without the ocean's flow,  
so there will never be a day  
without my love for you.  
I pledge myself to you this day.  
Our love will be as unchanging  
and dependable as the tide;  
as these waters nourish the earth  
and sustain life, may my constant  
devotion nourish and sustain you  
until the end of time."

Derek ended with his voice in a whisper, Meredith's eyes are still staring intensely into his, drowning in a sea of blue. She is so entranced by his face and his words, that she doesn't even realize that he has stopped speaking. Meredith just stands there and stares into his eyes, absolutely love struck.

"Meredith?" The officiant says for the fifth time. Finally, Meredith feels Cristina poke her from behind.

Her stare is broken and she turns and gives the officiant a confused glance. "Meredith, it is time for you to read your vows."

"Hmm? Wh.. Oh!" She says in surprise, her cheeks flush in embarrassment. Derek smiles at her reaction and gently squeezes her hand.

"Derek." Meredith started, her voice squeaking a little, trying to hold back the tears.

"Derek, I love you. I have dreamed of this moment for so long, that it doesn't even feel as if it is really happening." Tears begin to flow from Meredith's eyes as she looks into Derek's. He reaches up and touches her cheek, catching the tears with his fingers as they fall.

"I promise to give you the best of myself, and to ask of you no more than you can give. I promise to accept you the way you are. I fell in love with you for the qualities, abilities, and outlook on life that you have, and will not try to reshape you in a different image."

"I promise to respect you as a person with your own interests, desires, and needs, and to realize that those are sometimes different, but no less important than my own. I promise to keep myself open to you, to let you see through the window of my personal world into my innermost fears and feelings, secrets, and dreams."

"I promise to grow along with you, to be willing to face change as we both change in order to keep our relationship alive and exciting. And finally, I promise to love you in good times and in bad, with all I have to give, and all I feel inside, in the only way I know how, completely and forever. Derek. I love you." Meredith whispered the last three words, his hand still touching her cheek as the tears flow freely down them.

Derek carefully lifted his hand from her cheek and put her hands in his as they stared at one another, tears running down both of their cheeks.

----------------------

"It is now time for the ring ceremony." The officiant declares, pulling Meredith and Derek once again from their trance. Derek turns and retrieves the rings from Mark, who had unclasped them from Matthew's ring pillow. Derek bends down to Matthew, who is holding the pillow proudly and whispers. "Thank you." To which Matthew smiles broadly. Derek turns and hands the rings to the officiant. He holds the rings in the air as he speaks.

"A circle is the symbol of the sun and the earth and the universe, of wholeness and perfection, and peace and love. It is worn on the third finger, because of an ancient Greek belief that a vein from that finger goes directly to the heart.  
These rings mark the beginning of a long journey together. Wear them proudly, for they are symbols which speak of the love that you have for each other."

He hands Derek the ring. "Derek, please repeat after me. 'I give you this ring as a symbol of our love. With it I wed you, and give you my body, soul, and heart.'"

"I give you this ring as a symbol of our love. With it I wed you, and give you my body, soul, and heart" Derek repeats as he slips the ring onto her delicate finger.

"Meredith, please repeat after me. 'I give you this ring as a symbol of our love. With it I wed you, and give you my body, soul, and heart'" She repeats, as she slips the ring onto his fingers, they're eyes never straying.

"May the love of Derek and Meredith be strong, that no misunderstanding loosen the bond and no passing of the years have the power to dim the light that now glows in them. May they early gain wisdom to discern the true values of life, and may no circumstances take from them the wholesome peace and inward satisfaction which only love can give."

"Grant them vision to look beyond this moment to the generations yet to come, and to know that the home they create will be part of the sacred body of humanity in which you dwell, that they may have reverence for others and for themselves, and drink the cup of joy with awe."

"Ladies and gentlemen, it is with great pleasure and joy, that I pronounce before you, Mr. and Mrs. Derek Shepherd."

"You may now…" But before the officiant could finish, Derek had already lifted Meredith from the ground and began to kiss her passionately and walk back down the aisle, the wedding party quickly following.

Katie stopped for a moment to try to pick up the rose petals that she had dropped but Cristina grabbed her under her arm and carried her back down the aisle. 

Derek carried Meredith back to the carriage and lifted her up into it. "What now?" Meredith giggled excitedly.

"Now, my love. We party!" He said as he climbed into the carriage and they started off on their way to the reception hall.  
Derek sit next to Meredith, who was looking out onto the water as the carriage carry them, with an peaceful smile and a faraway look in her eye.

"Hey. There's one more surprise." Derek said softly. Capturing her attention.

"Another surprise?" Meredith asked with a grin.

"Ok, you got me. There is more than one surprise." Derek smiled. He bent forward and whispered to the driver, who stopped the horses and turned them down a path towards the water once more. The driver stopped the carriage at a post and jumped down, tying the horses to the post, he walked to the side of the carriage and put the steps down. Derek stepped off the carriage and held out his hand to Meredith.

"What is this?" Meredith asked, smiling as she descended the carriage.

"One more surprise." Derek said. "Take off your sandals." He said as he took his shoes off and rolled up his pant legs. Meredith kicked off her sandals and took his outstretched hand.

"Where are we going?" Meredith asked, as she and Derek walked towards the water. Derek picked up a stick along the way and as they stand at the waters edge, the red sun slipping away quickly over the horizon and is nearly set. He turns to Meredith and hands her the stick.

"Is there anything that you need to send out to the ocean today? Do you have any fears? Any worries, Meredith?" Derek asked, his face inches from hers.

She takes a step back, looking him directly in his eyes. She lifts the stick high over her head and looks out at the red sun sliding down on the horizon. She hurls the stick with all of her strength into the water. She then takes a step forward and puts her hands on his shoulders and leaps up to wrap her legs around his waist, securing her arms around his neck. He catches her body and watches as the cool ocean breeze releases even more tendrils of her soft blonde hair from the now messy bun. She looks at him lovingly and kisses him passionately on the lips.

They stand out by the water like that, kissing… until the last ounce of the sun has descended upon the horizon, the ocean waves sliding in and out, washing across Derek's feet as he holds on tightly to the love of his life.

----------------------

Derek carries Meredith back to the carriage and helps her into it, handing her the sandals that she had left in the sand. He slips his shoes on and rolls his pant legs down and hops into the carriage behind her. He pulls out a fleece blanket that was beside him and carefully places it on both of their laps as he leans into her and waits for the trip to the reception.

Meredith leans onto Derek's shoulder and closes her eyes, taking the evening in, she breathes deeply and takes in the sweet scent of Derek, seated next to her, leaning his head onto hers, she sighs with happiness.

"You're not getting tired are you?" Derek asked softly.

"Nope, just happy." Meredith softly replied.

"Good. Because the night is just beginning. Look over there." Derek said, pointing to where the carriage was directed.

Meredith slowly lifted her head from his shoulder, and in the distance, Meredith could see a large patio lit by tall torches. The patio was filled with people milling about and standing against the railing waiting for the carriage to arrive. Everyone cheered when they saw the carriage coming down the path. As the carriage approached, everyone worked their way into the ballroom for the first dance.

The driver stopped the carriage and put the steps down again for Derek to descend and help Meredith down. He kissed her hand and looked her in the eyes. "Are you ready Mrs. Shepherd?" Derek whispered.

"I have been ready my whole life, Mr. Shepherd." Meredith giggled. She hooked her arm in his and they walked towards the front door.

The band leader stopped playing for a moment and picked up his microphone. "Ladies and Gentlemen, it is with great pride and honor that I introduce you all, to Mr. and Mrs. Shepherd!" Derek and Meredith step into the room and it erupts into a frenzy of cheers and hoots from the guests. "The couple will now share their first dance with us."

The band begins to play as Derek gently takes Meredith's hand and leads her to the center of the dance floor, her dress flowing out behind her as they float across the dance floor.

_Some day, when I'm awfully low,  
When the world is cold,  
I will feel a glow just thinking of you...  
And the way you look tonight._

"I love you Derek." Meredith whispers in his ear as he guides his hand around her waist and she sets her head on his shoulder, closing her eyes and feeling the moment deep within her soul.

_Yes you're lovely, with your smile so warm  
And your cheeks so soft,  
There is nothing for me but to love you,  
And the way you look tonight._

"I love you Meredith." Derek whispered back. "More than anything in the world." He said as she reached her arms around his neck and looked him straight in the eye. He leaned his head down onto her shoulder and lightly whispered the next part of the song in her ear.

_With each word your tenderness grows,  
Tearing my fear apart...  
And that laugh that wrinkles your nose,  
It touches my foolish heart._

Meredith giggles and pulls her head up again to look into his eyes once more, his blue eyes hold a pool of happy tears, and he sees the reflection of his own eyes, his own feelings, in her eyes. She whispers the last lines to him.

_Lovely ... Never, ever change.  
Keep that breathless charm.  
Won't you please arrange it ?  
'Cause I love you ... Just the way you look tonight._

The music ended and Derek and Meredith stood there for a moment, entranced in one another's gaze. Meredith broke the gaze first and began to turn around. Derek lightly grabbed her hand. "Hey. Who said we were done?" Derek said, as he turned to the band and gave a signal. "Let me show you a little something that I learned while I was away." Derek grinned mischievously.

"What do you mean?" She asked as he pulled her close to her. The band began playing again and soon they were out in the middle of the dance floor, Derek leading her in a graceful dance.

_Somewhere beyond the sea  
Somewhere waitin' for me  
My lover stands on golden sands  
And watches the ships that go sailin'._

"Where did you learn to dance like this?" Meredith asked as they floated along the dance floor to the jazzy tune.

_Somewhere beyond the sea  
She's there watchin' for me  
If I could fly like birds on high  
Then straight to her arms I'd go sailin'._

"All over. I learned while I was away, so that I could come home and sweep you off your feet. This song makes me think of you." Derek said with a smile.

_It's far beyond the stars  
It's near beyond the moon  
I know beyond a doubt  
My heart will lead me there soon._

Meredith smiled at the lyrics. "You're right, it is perfect. You are perfect. I love you." Meredith giggled as he continued the dance.

_We'll meet beyond the shore  
We'll kiss just as before  
Happy we'll be beyond the sea  
And never again I'll go sailin'._

"And I love you, and don't ever think anything else. I'd do anything for you." Derek said with a bright smile.

_I know beyond a doubt  
My heart will lead me there soon  
We'll meet … I know we'll meet … beyond the shore  
We'll kiss just as before._

Happy we'll be beyond the sea  
And never again I'll go sailin'.

At the end of the song, Derek dips her and kisses her passionately, as the crowd of people surrounding them once again erupt into claps and cheering.  
The music stops for a moment and everyone runs onto the dance floor to greet Meredith and Derek. Katherine runs up to Derek and attempts to climb his leg until he reaches down and lifts her into his arms. She put her hands on his cheeks and began to kiss his nose over and over, giggling each time she pulled her head away.

Derek's mother came over and gave Meredith a big hug, handing over Jack to Meredith for his share of hugs and kisses. "Louise! It is so nice to see you!" Meredith laughs as she pulls her into a hug.

"No more Louise, it's 'mom' from now on, you should have been calling me that all along!" She laughs. "Jack behaved wonderfully during the ceremony, he is such a little angel." Louise said as she moved on to hug her son.

"Congratulations Mer!" Meredith heard a voice.

"GEORGE!" Meredith exclaimed pushing her way through the crowd to give her friend a tight hug. She continued holding him in the hug as she spoke to him. "I'm sorry about the other day, I'm sorry that I ran away. You know I love you two, you know I appreciate everything you have done for Katie and I. I would never use you George!"

"I know Mer. We planned for this so far in advance, I was worried that it wasn't going to happen." George said smiling, hugging her harder.

"IZZIE!! CRISTINA!!" Meredith squealed over George's shoulder. He let go and watched her run over to Izzie and Cristina and squeal and hop up and down and hug them both.

----------------------

Derek hugged his mother tightly. "I'm so glad that you all could make it out here!" Derek said with a smile.

"Sweetheart, we wouldn't have missed it for the world, but if this gang gets any bigger, we're going to have to get ourselves a private jet!" Derek's mother laughed. Mark walked up behind Derek.

"Who is this beautiful woman that you are hugging Derek, she looks so familiar, is it one of your sisters?" Mark said with a smile.

"OH MARKIE!" Louise said happily as she gave Mark a big hug, kissing him on the cheek. "I haven't seen you in such a long time! You looked so handsome up there! Is that your little boy over there? The ring bearer?"

"Yep, that's Matthew." Mark said proudly.

"He looks just like you! I bet he has good water gun aim, just like his father did." She said with a smile.

"Sure does, mom." He said with a grin.

Derek walked up to Burke and shook his hand. "Preston."

"Shepherd. Congratulations."

"Thank you. Oh, and you got all the credit for the vacation and the room, by the way."

"Good, I'm just glad I'm not getting the bill." Burke laughed.

"Alright everyone! It's time to get to your seats for the toasts and dinner!" The band leader called through his microphone.

Everyone found their ways to the table, Meredith and Derek brought Jack and Katie with them to the head table and sat down.

----------------------

Everyone made their way to their chairs and as Mark stood up and held his champagne glass up, everyone began to quiet and listen to his speech. 

"When I was seven years old, I was walking to school with my mother and sisters, and out of the corner of my eye, I saw another boy, walking with his mother and four sisters, on the opposite sidewalk. I glanced over to him, he glanced over to me and we both smiled slightly at one another. We smiled because we both knew that we were going through the same suffering of having to deal with women on a constant basis."

Mark stopped for a moment as everyone laughed at the picture that Mark was painting before them.

"When we got to school, we learned that we had so much in common besides the fact that we had way too many women in our lives. We both loved baseball, fishing, football. We both loved scary movies, the same type of music and torturing our sisters to no end. Into college, we learned that we both had a love for medicine. Derek went into neurology, I messed around a couple extra years and landed in plastics. Somewhere along the way, we learned that our dislike of women had turned into a love and respect so strong, that our sisters became our best friends, and we felt that women were to be honored, cherished and cared for like the delicate flowers that they are. Don't get me wrong, I wouldn't want to get into a fist fight with any woman, but they are creatures that are to be respected."

"Meredith, you took this man that I have known for most of the years of my life, and you have turned him into one of the mushiest, most romantic, charming people that I have ever laid eyes upon. You didn't change him to be this way, you didn't have to mold him into this person. You just let him be himself. You trusted him when he told you that he would come back to you, you held his hand when he told you that he was scared, you never once scoffed at his ideas and made him insecure and small. These reasons Meredith, is why he loves you, why I love you, why everyone here in this room is here for you, for Derek and for your family."

"Derek, you are a lucky man to have found such a beautiful wife, mother to your children, and friend. Meredith, you are a lucky woman to have found such a wonderful husband, father of your children, and friend, and we are all lucky to have found such a wonderful listeners, friends, and confidants such as yourselves. Thank you for being a part of my life. Thank you for being a part of all of our lives." 

Mark holds up his glass in a toast and everyone clinks glasses, smiling and laughing.  
Next standing is Cristina. She stands, holding her glass of water in her hand, and begins to speak.

"I came here today, on a plane with two screaming children. They were not my children, no, they were the children of my two dearest friends. The five year old kept asking questions constantly. Why is the sky blue? Why is the plane shaking? Why are you putting the baby's diaper on backwards? Questions like that. When she wasn't asking questions, she was poking at her brother, crying because something had been taken away from her or playing with some god awful toy that plays loud noises. The baby, well, he just cried the entire time, poor little thing nearly made my eardrums fall out of my head."

"Ok… ok… back to the point of the story. The point is… why did I put myself through hell today in an enclosed space with two screaming children? Its because I love those two idiots up there. I love them so much, that I am willing to do almost anything for them, including risk my own sanity. Be happy, or else. "

Cristina laughed when Meredith and Derek laughed and held up their glasses for Cristina's toast.

"Let's eat!" Cristina said loudly over the murmur of the room.

----------------------

After dinner, Meredith and Derek danced with one another and with various other people. Laughing and enjoying themselves. Meredith now sit in her chair, cradling a sleepy Jack while she watch Derek out on the dance floor. He is holding his daughter in one arm and one of his nieces in the other while two other nieces clasp onto his leg as he dances to the music and laughs at his predicament.

"He was always good with the ladies" a voice comes from behind. Emma sits beside Meredith and Leah sits on her other side. "Are you having a good time?" Emma asked, reaching out, giving Jack's cheek a little pinch.

"I don't think I have ever had more fun in my entire life." Meredith smiled.

"And now you get a week and a half off for a honeymoon!" Leah laughed.

Meredith smiled as she cuddled Jack closer to herself. Emma noticed her sudden change of mood.

"What's on your mind Meredith?" 

"Nothing, I just wish my mother, or my grandmother were here to see this. To see how happy we are. To see that my screwed up life is turning out alright. I know its not the time to think these things, but I can't help it." Meredith said, starting to cry, both women lean in and give her a hug.

Derek sees Meredith crying and gently places Katie and his niece on the ground as he rushes to her side. "Meredith, are you alright?" Derek asked, bending down in front of her.

"Don't worry, we have it all control." Emma said, giving her brother a pat on the shoulder. "She'll talk to you about it later. Your girls are waiting for you!" Emma said, pointing out to the dance floor, where all four girls were standing in a line, anxiously waiting for their dance partner to return.

"You're sure?" Derek asked.

"We're sure." Leah said, giving Derek a hug.


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37-

**Flash forward- 7 Years. June 5th, 2018-**

"JACKSON GREY SHEPHERD! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" Katie screams as she runs out of her bedroom following after her seven year old brother and his six year old accomplice.

"Wait, wait, wait…. There will be no killing. What's going on?" Meredith said, stepping in front of her twelve year old daughter as she stomped down the hallway.

"Did you look at them?" Katie says, pointing at her brother and his best friend hiding behind Meredith's leg.

Meredith turned around and looked at the two children, they had red lipstick underneath their eyes, on their forehead and up and down their arms. "Jackson and Charlotte, what on earth are you two doing?" Meredith scolded.

"We're Indians Mama!" Jackson exclaimed.

"Trying to get away from the evil Cowgirl!" Charlotte finished his sentence.

"Charlotte Burke, your mother is going to kill you, or me." Meredith said as she lifted the little girl and carried her into the bathroom to clean up. "Jack, don't touch anything, you're next!" she called as she walked into the bathroom.

"I won't!" he says as he continues to smear the lipstick from his arm onto the white wall.

-------------------------------------

Later that Evening-

::Ring, Ring::

"Hello? Oh! Hi Aunt Crissy! Yeah, he's here, I'll get him." Katie said into the phone. "DAD! AUNT CRISTINA IS ON THE PHONE FOR YOU!"

Derek walks in from the next room. "Katherine, I was standing right there, I could hear you talking, you don't have to yell." Derek said as he reached for the phone.

"Whatever!" Katie says as she hands off the phone to Derek and storms off into the kitchen.

"Hello? What? They did what? She had what in her pockets? You have got to be kidding me! This is the third time that she came home with worms in her pockets. I'll talk to him. Hey, don't blame me because your daughter is a tomboy. Ok, ok… I'll tell him to stop daring her to put gum in her hair too. Thanks Cris. Yeah…. Love you too." Derek hangs up the phone. "JACKSON GREY SHEPHERD, GET YOUR HINEY IN HERE NOW!"

::Ring Ring::

"Hello?" Derek answers.

"Hey Matty. Yeah, she's here. Just a second." Derek walks into the living room where Katie is sitting in front of the television. He stands in front of the television. "KATIE! MATTHEW IS ON THE PHONE FOR YOU!" He screams.

"Dad! You are such a dork!" Katie laughed, standing up and grabbing the phone from him and running into the kitchen. "Hey Matt!" she giggled.

Suddenly, Jack runs through the front door, soaking wet in his shorts and tee shirt. "What Daddy?"

Derek looks at his son, looks up to the ceiling. "I don't even want to know!" Derek said as he turns and sits down on the couch.

-------------------------------------

Fifteen minutes later---

"I HATE YOU, I HATE YOU, AND I NEVER WANT TO TALK TO YOU AGAIN!" Katie screams into the phone as she runs through the living room, pressing the off button throwing the phone at Derek as she passes, crying.

Derek watches her pass him and thinks about whether or not he should follow her. Meredith walked into the house, just as Katie runs up the stairs, crying.

"He must have told her." Meredith said, a concerned look crossing her face.

"Must have told her. Should we go check on her?" Derek asked.

"No, give her a little time." Meredith said, looking up the stairs. "On another note, Do you have any idea what your son is doing outside?"

"I don't even want to know." Derek said, putting his hand to his head and leaning back on the couch.

-------------------------------------

Ten minutes after that—

::Knock knock:: Meredith lightly knocks on her daughter's bedroom door.

"Leave me alone! I don't want to talk to anyone!" Meredith hears the muffled reply through the door.

"Katie, let me come in sweetheart. I know you're upset about this, but you can't be mad at Matt about it. It's not his fault." Meredith says through the door.

Katie swings the door open, her brown curls hanging down in her face, her cheeks a bright red from crying, her eyes bloodshot. "YOU KNEW?" Katherine screamed. "You knew that they were moving, and you didn't tell me?"

"Well, your aunt Rebecca does work with me and your father sweetie. I've known for a couple of weeks now. Matthew wanted to tell you himself, he didn't want you to be hurt."

"But he can't move! He's my best friend!" Katie cried.

"Sweetheart, Uncle Mark got a really good job in Portland. It's not that far away." Meredith tried to explain.

"But he can't move mom, he can't go." Katie said, giving her mother a hug.

"I know sweetheart, it is hard when people go away. He'll always be your best friend though, don't ever forget that." Meredith said, giving her daughter tighter hug.

-------------------------------------

**May 13, 2023**

"Are you sure you want to do this sweetheart?" Meredith asked her daughter as she tied the bow on the back of her prom dress.

"Mom, it's my senior prom! I have to do this, didn't you go to your senior prom?" Katie asked, putting her blush on her cheeks and checking for stray hairs that may have come loose from her hair clip.

"Nope. I wasn't really a dress up kind of girl, you know that. You are sure you want to do this without a date? I just don't want you to be uncomfortable." Meredith explained, looking in the mirror with a concerned look.

"Dork." A voice said as it passed by the bathroom.

"MOM!" Katie exclaimed.

"Jack, get in here." Meredith called.

"What?" Jack said from the doorway.

"Apologize to your sister, now."

"I'm sorry you're a dork." Jack replied.

"MOM!"

"Jack."

"I'm just saying, why is she even bothering to go? She doesn't have a date, sounds like a waste of time to me. Even I have a girlfriend." Jack said with a laugh.

"Jackson, having a weekly spitting contest with Charlotte Burke does not constitute a relationship!" Katie exclaimed.

"Whatever." Jack replied.

"Jack, get out." Meredith said.

"You called me in here."

"Out!"

-------------------------------------

Katherine walked to the bottom of the stairs, where Derek stand waiting. "Well aren't you just the most beautiful thing I have ever seen?" Derek says to his daughter, making her smile.

Katie walked over to Derek and kissed him on the cheek. "Thank you, daddy." She smiled.

"You're sure you want to do this alone?" Derek asked.

"Daddy, I have my friends, they'll be there. You're starting to sound like mom." Katie laughed. Jack stepped down from the stairs, whispering something to Katie, Katie gave him a dirty look as he passed. He walked in front of Derek, who promptly gave him a little smack on the head.

"Be nice to your sister." Derek said in a warning tone. Jack just continued on into the kitchen.

::Ding dong::

"Hmm…. I wonder who that could be…." Derek wondered out loud.

"Daddy!" Katie laughed. "Are you expecting someone?"

"Maybe." Derek said with a sly grin. "Go answer it." Derek smiles.

Katherine walks to the front door and opens it slowly. A young man is standing at the door, dressed in a tuxedo, holding a bouquet of flowers. "MATTHEW!" Katherine exclaims.

Matthew looks over at her, a twinkle in his eye as he hands her the bouquet of flowers. "Ms. Shepherd. I would be both delighted and honored if you would accompany me to the prom this evening."

"You want to take me to the prom?" Katie asked, looking over at her father, who is beaming. "You did this?" Katie asked with a giggle.

"You needed a date, and he needed his friend." Derek said.

"I love you daddy!" Katie said, running to her father to give him a big hug.

"I love you too, now you two get going. Have a good time. Matthew, take good care of my little girl." Derek said.

"I always do, Sir." Matthew said with a smile. "I'll have her home at a reasonable time and all in one piece." Matthew said as he looped his arm. Katie smiled at her father as she hooked her arm in Matthew's and walked out the door.

Meredith smiled down at Derek from the top of the stairs. He looked up at her and grinned. "Am I good, or am I good?" Derek said with a McDreamy smile.

Meredith walked to the bottom of the stairs and put her arms around his neck. "Oh, you're good alright." She said seductively, as she pressed her lips against his.

Jack walks out of the kitchen and sees his parents. "Oh EWW! Get a room!" Jack said before turning around and going back into the kitchen.

-------------------------------------

That evening—

Katie and Matthew are dancing closely, they had spent the evening catching up from the last time that they had talked, now they were just enjoying one another's company.

"So, did you like the surprise?" Matthew smiled, his green eyes shimmering in the dimly lit ballroom.

"I loved the surprise!" Katie said, hugging him close. "You'll always be my best friend." Katie said as she gave him a squeeze, tears begin falling from her crystal blue eyes. She lifts her face to look at him.

"You're crying." He says, concerned. He reaches out and catches her tears on his finger tip and puts it to his lips. "There is no crying." He smiled.

"I haven't seen you in almost a month. Your letters are becoming farther apart, I thought that you didn't want to be my friend anymore. I am so glad that high school is almost over. I hate it here. No one likes me, they think I'm a nerd or something."

"Katherine Shepherd, a nerd? Give me a break. These girls here have nothing on you." Matthew whispered.

"Well, tonight I am with the most handsome boy here, so I think everyone is a little bit envious at this point. Maybe you really are Prince Charming." Katie said, glancing around the room at the other students dancing.

Matthew blushes a little at her reference, his smile then turns to a frown. "Katie, there's something I need to talk to you about. Something that has been on my mind for a couple of weeks, and I had to tell you. You know, since you are my best friend."

"What is it?" Katie asked, concerned.

"It's about college. I am going to be going away for a few years. I'm going to study abroad. I'm not sure what I'm going to major in yet, but I would like to study in Europe." Matthew said quickly.

"You're going to leave me?" Katie asked, her heart breaking, her eyes beginning to fill with tears.

"Katie, I have to do this for me." Matthew said in her ear.

"Do this for you? For you? What about me? I know it sounds selfish, but I thought we were going to go to college together so that we could hang out all the time. That was our plan, that was what we planned way back when you moved from Seattle." Katie cried.

"Sometimes plans change." Matthew said simply, his comment coming across to sound more flippant than he had intended.

Katie immediately stepped out of his embrace in the middle of the song, he tried to take her into his arms again, but she pulled away sharply and took off running out of the ballroom, crying the whole way out.

-------------------------------------

Matthew chased Katie out of the ballroom and into the parking lot. She stood there, frantically looking for where they parked the car. She was feeling warm and uncomfortable and couldn't stand being in his embrace for one more second.

"Katherine, wait!" Matthew called across the parking lot. He ran to catch up with her, he puts his hand on her shoulder.

"Don't you touch me, don't you dare touch me!" Katie growls at him. "You cannot do this to me, you can't tell me that you'll be my friend, tell me that you'll always be there, show up here all perfect and handsome and then tell me that you're going to leave me and expect me to want to be near you. If you think that Matthew Sloan you have to be the stupidest man that ever walked on this planet" Katie wailed as she marched towards the car.

"Katie, wait!" Matthew called again, he took her shoulder. "Just listen, please?" Matt said as she swung around and gave him a dirty, angry, hurt look.

"What do you want from me??" Katie said under her breath.

"I want you." Matthew said, stepping forward, locking his lips with hers. At first, she wanted to pull away, she even tried to pull away, but when it came down to it, all she wanted, all she had ever wanted was to be loved by Matthew Sloan. He pulled away and stared into her crystal blue eyes. Her cheeks were now flushed with a rosy pink hue as she realized what had just happened.

"Let's go someplace a little more private." Matthew whispered, breathless as he took Katie's arm and led her to the car.

-------------------------------------

Two hours later, Matthew and Katie sit in the car getting dressed after their night of after prom fun. Katie is in deep thought as she fixes her hair.

"I'm sorry." Matthew said, as he zipped his pants and stared at the foggy windshield.

"Sorry?" Katie asked. "Why are you sorry? That was the most amazing experience I have ever had." She looks at Matthew. "I think I love you, Matthew." Katie whispered.

Matthew refused to look at her, he just kept looking ahead. "I'm sorry." He repeated, turning his head, looking Katherine in the eyes. "I'm so sorry, Katie."

"What Matt? What are you so sorry about? You're scaring me." Katie asks, panicking.

"I still have to leave. I am so sorry. I leave in two weeks." Matthew whispered.

"But Matthew! Look at what we just shared! Don't you love me?" Katie cried out.

"I'm sorry Katie." Matthew whispered again. "I will come back to you, I promise."

"If you leave me, then I don't want you." Katie whispered. "Take me home now." Katie whimpered.


	38. Chapter 38

**Chapter 38-**

Eight Years Later- September 21, 2031-- Joe's bar.

Katie walks into the bar and sits down on a stool.

"Hey, are you old enough to be in here?" The bartender asks, a playful smile across his face.

"Uncle Joe, I know it's been more than a year, but come on!" Katie says with a smile, leaning her elbows on the bar. "Give me my usual." She says with a smirk.

"One Tequila, coming up. So, what have you been up to, sweet thing?" Joe asks, sitting on the stool on his side of the bar as he pours her a shot of tequila.

"Not much. School, board exams, things like that. I'm starting my surgical internship tomorrow across the street. I just got back from Paris this evening, I haven't even seen mom and dad yet. I told them that I'd see them in the morning when I get to the hospital." Katie explains.

"Like parents, like daughter… always working. Oh boy, a new set of interns coming my way, that's something I'm looking forward to." Joe says with a laugh. "Where are you staying?" Joe inquired.

"Mom's old house. George and Izzie moved out last month. Iz and George wanted to move into their own house. Mom is letting me stay there so that I can have my own space. She's making me get roommates and 'have friends' and all that other crap." Katie says, downing another shot of tequila.

"Well, sounds like fun. Good luck over there Katie… Three Shepherds in one hospital, that's going to be one wild ride." Joe says as he stands up and bends over the bar to give her a kiss on the cheek.

"Thanks Uncle Joe, I'm going to need it." Katie replies, accepting another shot.

Katie sits for several minutes and turns around on her stool. She notices a young man across the room watching her. She wonders how long he has been watching her, and she stares back at him. She laughs to herself and turns around to face the bar once again. Looking straight ahead, she goes to lift another shot to her lips when a hand comes from behind and puts it on hers. She turns around quickly. The man that had been staring at her was standing beside her, his hand on hers.

"Do I know you?" He asked, slightly amused by the shocked look on her face.

"Probably not, I'm not from around here." Katie replies, hoping that he'll get lost.

"Yeah, you're right. I thought you were someone I knew from school, I guess not though." The man said.

"That, my friend, was the cheapest excuse for a pickup line, that I have ever heard." Katie laughs as she downs the shot in front of her.

"Really? I didn't think it was half bad." The young man shot back, looking her in the eyes. "I must be slipping."

"You think you're real hot stuff don't you?" Katie said, laughing.

"Well, I am aren't I? I think I am quite the catch." The young man replied.

"You have to be one of the most modest people that I have ever met. Quite charming." Katie lets those last two words slip from her lips and before she can stop them, they're already out. There is an awkward pause before he breaks the silence

"Do you like ferry boats?" The young man asked.

"Never been on one." Katie flirts.

"You don't know what you're missing out on." He replies.

"Would you like to show me what I am missing out on?" Katie replied, standing up and throwing money down on the bar.

"Sure. Let's go see what we're missing out on." The man says as he hooks arms with Katie and they head out the door.

-----------------------

The next morning- - Katie's House.

Katie wakes up at 5:30 am, with a pounding headache and a sore back. She opens her eyes and realizes that she is sleeping on the floor at her parent's old house. There is a half naked man next to her as the night before comes flooding back. She sits up suddenly, realizing what her day holds ahead of her. "Crap." She mumbles.

"Crap?" The voice next to her questions groggily.

"Crap." She mutters again, looking at the sleepy man beside her.

"What do you mean crap, that's not what you said last night." He mutters with a sly grin.

"You really have to go now." Katie mutters as she gathers up her clothes.

"What do you mean, why don't you come down here and we'll finish what we started last night." The man said, looking up at the beautiful young woman in front of him.

"That would really not be a good idea. I am already running behind, which is not a good thing on your first day of your new job, so listen…. Uh…."

"Derek." He replied.

"Hi Derek, I'm… Elisabeth." Katie says, holding out her hand, he shakes it and attempts to pull her closer. "Well Derek, I am going to run upstairs and take a shower. When I come back down. You won't be here. It was very nice to meet you." Katie smiled flirtatiously as she headed towards the stairs.

"It was very nice to meet you Elisabeth." Derek said with a smile.

-----------------------

When Katie reaches the bottom of the stairs after her shower, she looks around for her 'house guest.' She is relieved to find that he had left. She grabs her purse and her bag and she runs out the door to her car.

When she gets to the hospital, she runs through the front door and grabs the elevator door before it closes. She jumps inside, breathing hard from her run from the parking lot. She stands there with the crowd of people and watches the numbers on the elevator change.

"Late on the first day of work, not really making a good first impression, Dr. Shepherd." Katie heard from the back of the elevator.

Katie whips around almost hitting the person beside her with her bag as the elevator doors open and she is pushed out into the hallway. "MOM!" Katie exclaims as the crowd of people reveal Meredith amongst the throng of people in the elevator. Katie pulls her mother close and hugs her tightly. "I missed you so much!" Katie said

"I missed you too!" Meredith says, holding her daughter close to her. "You go away for a year and you don't even have the decency to wake me up in the middle of the night to let me know you're alive." Meredith said.

"Thanks for the guilt trip, Mom. I'm really running late, but I'd really like to see Dad before I get to the locker room." Katie smiled.

"Oh, he's down here." Meredith said as she grabbed her daughter's hand and led her down the hallway. Katie could see her father's thick black hair, with the light salt and peppering of gray from down the hallway. He was obviously busy talking to another new intern, but Katie didn't take her eyes off of him.

Just as they were approaching him, something made Katie stop in her tracks. "Derek?!" Katie exclaimed as she saw who her father was talking to. Both men turned to face Katherine.

"Elisabeth?" The man said in surprise.

"Katherine?" Derek said confused.

"Uh… I am late. I have to get to the locker room. I'll see you later mom, dad!" Katherine said as she began to run down the hallway away from her parents.

The three stood there in shock for a moment. "Did she just call me Derek?" Derek asked.

"Did you just call her Elisabeth?" Meredith asked. "Matthew?"

Matthew just stood there in shock as he watched Katie running back down the hallway.

"Uh… I think she's right. I have to get to the locker room too. I'll talk to you later Uncle De… Dr. Shepherds." Matthew said as he turned and jogged down the hallway after Katie.

-----------------------

Katie runs down the hallway at full speed, she looks behind her and notices that Derek is not following her, she slows to a walk and as she turns the corner, she is still looking behind her.

"Woah, where are you going so quickly?" A voice says as Katie feels someone's arms catch her as she crashes into them and nearly falls to the floor.

"Oh! I'm sorry. I was um… looking for the intern locker room." Katie says, looking up at the man standing in front of her. He was tall and handsome with nicely groomed brown hair and his eyes were an indigo blue. Katie blushes, realizing that she had been staring at the man.

"The intern locker room? I think it's down this hall and about four doors to the left. I'm new around here too, still learning the ropes. I'm Dr. Baker, I'm the new cardio attending." He says, holding his hand out to Katie.

Katie smiles and holds out her hand. "I'm Dr. Shepherd, first year intern… first day today. I should get going, I'm already late for meeting with my resident." Katie says with a smile. "It was nice to meet you."

"It was nice to meet you, Dr. Shepherd. I hope to see you around." Dr. Baker says.

"Oh, you will… trust me." Katie says smiling, as she walked towards the intern locker room. She then realized why she was running toward the locker room in the first place. She turned around and 'Derek' was already caught up to her.

"Hey!" He exclaims as he approaches her. "You lied to me." He said with a smile.

"What do you mean I lied to you? What are you doing here?"

"You're name isn't Elisabeth, its Katie-bug Shepherd. You don't even recognize me, do you?"

Katie looks at him long and hard, and settles on his eyes. She looks at those emerald green eyes. Shivers run down her spine.

"Matt?" Katie whispered, it was the only word she could squeeze out.

"Yes?" Matt said, a smile creeping across his face as she stare into his eyes.

"I still never want to see you again, I hate you." She said, her blue eyes narrowing, the words coming out of her lips sting like a million daggers in his heart. She turns around and walks into the locker room without saying another word to him.

-----------------------

"Katie-bug!" Matt said, following her into the locker room.

She turned around to face him. "You will not call me Katie-bug, Katie, Kate, Kat, or any other shortened versions of Katherine. You will not give me a nickname or some cutsie little way of telling me that you missed me, you will call me Dr. Shepherd and that is all I will answer to from you." She whispered fiercely at him, getting a couple of looks from other interns in the room. "Is that understood?" Katie said, finding her locker and putting her purse inside.

Matt put his head down in disappointment. "I'm sorry." He said as he opened his locker and put his comb and extra scrubs inside and pulled out his lab coat "I won't bother you again." He then closed the locker door and walked out of the locker room.

Another intern walked up to Katie, "Hey, I'm Allison Balli, You can call me Alli." She held out her hand. Katie shook her hand and smiled.

"I'm Katherine Shepherd."

"Do you know him?" She said, referencing the door that Matthew had passed through.

"Who? Matt? Yeah, I know him. Why?"

"I was just wondering. He's really cute." Alli said quietly.

"Yeah… I know." Katie said exasperated.

-----------------------

Katie steps out into the hallway to find her resident.

"Ok, I have Shepherd, Sloan, Balli, Anderson, and Cunningham." One of the residents calls out.

"Oh, crap. We're in the same intern group." Katie says to herself as she follows the resident down the hallway.

Katie lags behind the other four as they all follow the resident down the hallway, she tries her hardest not to make eye contact with Matthew, who every now and then throws a pleading look in her direction. The resident gives them their pagers and explains to them that the pager is the boss and if it goes off, you will answer its call. We do not ignore pages, we do not take our time getting to our pages. Katie stands back and listens to the speech. 

"We'll now go and meet up with a few of our attendings." The resident explained. The six of them made themselves down to the surgical wing. Walking through that door, a flood of memories invaded Katherine's mind. Thoughts of running through the hallway with her mother, looking for her dad, thoughts of climbing up onto the gallery chairs on days that she was home sick school and watching her as her mother or father perform a tricky surgery, and thoughts of Derek carrying her through the hallways to visit one of her many 'aunts' and 'uncles' in the hospital. They entered the first room on the left.

"Doctors, this is Dr. Burke, you will all remember him mainly because he is our chief of surgery, but mostly because he is the top cardiothoracic surgeon in the country. Dr. Burke, I'd like to introduce you to Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Anderson, Dr. Balli, Dr. Sloan, and Dr. Shepherd." The resident introduced them.

Dr. Burke smiled at the group of interns and stepped up to them to shake their hands and welcome them to the game. He shook hands with Dr. Cunningham, Dr. Anderson, and Dr. Balli and he stopped as he got to Matthew and Katie. "Well if it isn't the partners in crime, back together after all these years." Matthew grins madly while Katie continues to scowl at the idea of being in such close proximity to Matthew. Burke reached out his hand to Matthew who gratefully took it and was surprised when Burke pulled him into a half hug. "It is nice to see you again, Dr. Sloan." He then turns his attention to Katie. "Well, Dr. Shepherd, we have our work cut out for us, don't we? Three doctor Shepherds under one roof. We're going to have to keep on our game!" Burke said, reaching out and giving Katie a big hug, much to the astonishment of three of the other interns.

"I missed you Uncle Doc." Katie whispers in his ear as he pulls away. "We'll talk later" she smiles as she steps back, noticing the glares that the other three interns are giving her, and the look of amusement playing across Matthew's face. "Yes sir, this is going to be a long internship." Katie remarked as she took a step back into the line of interns.

-----------------------

The interns leave that room and follow one another through the hallway to other rooms, meeting other attendings. Matthew and Katie always would get a hug or a kinder hello, which kind of put the other three interns ill at ease traveling through the hospital.

They entered an office that seemed almost empty except for a couple of diplomas on the wall and a couple of books in a bookcase. Dr. Baker sit at his desk reading over some paperwork when he sees the interns coming into his office.

"Dr. Johnson." Dr. Baker says to the resident.

"Dr. Baker, I would like to introduce you to my new group of interns. Dr. Baker is the new cardio attending, he just started not too long ago, so I wouldn't ask him how to get around town just yet." The resident laughed.

Each intern shook his hand and introduced themselves. Katie's hand lingered a little longer in Dr. Baker's hand than the other interns as she stared into his blue eyes. A flash of something crossed her face that only Matthew had seen before. Matthew was less than happy about this as his heart ached to have his friend back.

The last section of the hospital was the neuro section. Katie knew that she was going to be getting some looks in this department and she didn't want to admit it, but she was kind of glad that Matt was there to take some of the attention off her. They walked down the hallway and Meredith stood talking in what appeared to be a heated discussion.

Katie could see that her mother's ears were red with anger and the look on her father's face was the one that he gets when he gets stubborn and doesn't want to hear what her mother is saying.

"Interns, this is Dr. Shepherd and Dr. Shepherd." The resident giggled to herself as she approached Meredith and Derek, who turned to the group of interns and smiled.

_"Yep, fake smiles… they are so fighting right now."_ Katie says to herself.

"For the sake of confusion, we call the male Dr. Shepherd, Dr. Der Shepherd and Mrs. Shepherd is Dr. Mer Shepherd, but since they're both in neuro, it isn't too big of a deal if you get them confused. Dr. Shepherds, this is my group of interns." The resident says.

Derek holds out his hand as each of the first three hold out there hand to shake their hand, and they each introduce themselves. Meredith does the same. Derek gets to Matthew and holds out his hand.

"Doctor Sloan, it is very nice to see you back on this continent." Derek says with a sly grin, an actual smile that Katie didn't fail to pick up on. Katie watches as Matt does the secret handshake that Derek had taught him so many years ago, with a huge smile on his face. Katie looks at her mother and rolls her eyes, Meredith smiles.

_"Damn it. He still likes him, even after the hell he put me through. Matthew will always be dad's golden boy, I hate him so much right now!"_ Katie thought to herself.

Meredith held her hand out to Matthew. "Dr. Sloan, we both look forward to working with you." Meredith said a bit coolly, remembering how much this boy hurt her daughter and the months of crying that she had to help Katie through.

"Dr. Shepherd, I am looking forward to working with you." Derek said with a smile to his daughter.

The look of pride on her father's face made her smile. "And I look forward to working with you too, Dr. Shepherd." She giggled as she held out her hand to her father. He pulled her into big hug.

"Don't you ever leave us again. Your mother drives me crazy." Derek laughed as he whispered in her ear. Katie could feel Meredith elbow him in the arm.

"Oh my gosh! Dr. Shepherds and another Dr. Shepherd? That is so cool!" The resident exclaimed.

_"Yep, its going to be a long internship."_ Katie thought to herself.

-----------------------

Katie stood on the first floor, waiting for the elevator to open so that she could get some labs on the third floor. When the elevator door opened, her heart sank when she noticed who was in it, alone. She took a deep breath and stepped inside. When she stepped inside, she immediately turned around to face the doors as she pressed the button to her floor.

"I know you still love me." Matthew said aloud.

"I hate you." Katie said.

"You don't hate me. You hate hating me. You love me."

"Shut up."

"I love you. Did you get my letters? You never wrote back."

"I didn't open your letters, I threw them out, I hate you… or did I forget to mention that?"

"hmm…"

"I do."

"You love me. You wouldn't have asked me to marry you, otherwise."

"What?"

The elevator doors open on the second floor and Matthew steps out. He puts his hand on the door to hold it open.

"We were five years old, standing on the beach of Monterey Bay. We were waiting for your parents to come to the wedding ceremony. You reached down on the ground and picked this up."

Matthew reaches into his pocket and pulls out a beautiful small light blue seashell.

"You handed it to me, and you asked me to marry you. I said I would. You are mine forever." Matthew said, leaning back into the elevator, giving Katie a light peck on the cheek. "And I love you too." He then turned and walked down the hallway, leaving a stunned Katie standing in the elevator as the doors closed.

-----------------------

The elevator door opens on the third floor and Katie steps out, she looks down at the charts she has. She is still surprised at what Matt said to her in the elevator, and quite angry that he took advantage of the seclusion of the elevator.

"Katherine." She hears as she passes an exam room. She turns around and sees Meredith standing in the doorway.

"Hey, Mom." Katie says, walking over to Meredith.

"Come here, I need to talk to you." Meredith says, moving out of the way, letting Katie into the room.

"What is it?" Katie asks concerned, she sits in one of the chairs in the room, Meredith sits next to her.

"Are you doing alright?"

"Yeah, it's a little stressful, first days are always stressful."

"Katie, you know what I'm talking about. Are you alright with him around?"

"I don't know. I feel very uncomfortable when he's around. He makes me so angry."

"I know sweetheart." Meredith says, hugging Katie. "I talked to your dad, and he wants to invite Matt to come over for dinner tomorrow after your first shift. I told him that he can't do that, that you wouldn't feel comfortable, but he keeps insisting. He's driving me crazy." Meredith said.

"I don't want him around Mom. If daddy knew what happened, he'd understand. I just can't tell him, he'd be heartbroken." Katie said, her eyes filling with tears.

Meredith holds Katie close. "I know sweetheart." Meredith said, putting her forehead against her daughter's, comforting her.


	39. Chapter 39

**Chapter 39-**

June 10, 2022-

::Ring ring::

"Hello?" Meredith says into the phone.

"Mama?" Katie says weakly into the phone.

"Katie? Katie? Are you alright, where are you?"

"I'm so sorry mama." Katie says into the telephone.

"Katherine, where are you? Are you alright?" Meredith said.

"Mama, I was going to tell you, I was. I only found out last week. I promise I was going to tell you! Now it doesn't matter, now its too late, I lost it..." Katie sobs into the phone.

"Katherine. Where are you?" Meredith said sternly.

"I'm at Mercy West. I have to stay overnight. Please don't tell Daddy! He will be so disappointed in me. Please mama… please!" Katie begs into the phone.

-------------------------------

Present time-

"Katie." Meredith said to get Katie's attention.

Katie looked Meredith in the eyes, tears still stung her eyes, but she looked at her mother as she addressed her.

"Matt doesn't even know what happened. He doesn't know about the miscarriage, all he knows is that you are angry with him. You have to tell him why you are angry at him. You have to set things straight, he was involved, he has a right to know." Meredith whispered to her daughter.

"I'm scared mom." Katie whimpered.

"I know." Meredith says. "I'm here for you, you don't have to worry."

"What makes things worse, is that as much as I hate his guts, I still love him so much." Katie cried into her mother's arms.

"I know sweetheart… I know…"

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Lunch-

Katie walks into the cafeteria with her tray of food and sees three of her fellow interns, Alli, Kristin Cunningham, and Joe Anderson sitting at a table. She smiles and walks over to the table.

"Hey, is this seat taken?" Katie asks.

"Nope, go on ahead. What's up? Who did you get stuck with?" Alli asked. "I got to work with Dr. Shepherd. He's hot." Alli says.

Katie almost spits out the bite of her sandwich.

"You moron, that's Katie's father!" Joe replied.

"What? I agree with her, I think he's hot. I heard that his nickname around the hospital is 'McDreamy'." Kristin replies.

"Ok guys, if you keep talking about my dad like this, I am so going to have to move to another table." Katie laughed.

"Sorry." Alli and Kristin say together.

"Hey, I'm looking for a couple of roommates, any of you interested? I have a big house, two rooms and I'm looking for a couple of friends to help me fill it up."

"How about me?" Matt says, coming up from behind. "I'll move in with you." He says in a playful tone.

Suddenly, Katie's smile fades. She ignores Matt and stands up. "Think about it, I'll see you guys later. I… um… have things to do." Katie says as she picks up her tray and walks away. Matt watches her walk away sadly.

"Hey, you can sit with us if you want." Alli said, patting the seat next to her. "You got any dirt on anyone around here?" She asked as Matt cautiously sat down, watching Katie throw her tray away and walk back into the hospital.

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3AM- ON CALL ROOM….

Katie was sitting in the on call room writing in some charts when the door opens. She doesn't look up, she just continues to write.

"Why do you hate me so much?" Matthew said as he walked inside and closed the door behind him.

"Because you're a liar." Katie said, not looking up.

"I am not a liar, I never lie!" Matt said, sitting down next to Katie. Katie shifts down away from him.

"See, there you go again." Katie says, continuing to write.

"What? I don't. I have always been honest with you." Matt said, reaching out to touch her hand.

"Don't touch me." Katie snarled at him, he pulled his hand back.

"Do you mind if I come to dinner tomorrow at your parents place? Your father invited me, but I don't want to go if you don't want me to be there." Matt said.

"You do whatever you want. You always do." Katie snapped back, still not looking at him.

"That's not fair." Matt said.

Katie stands up suddenly, Matthew stands up next to her. She puts her finger on his chest and points at him, her eyes meeting his and never wavering. Her eyes darkening, much like her Derek's do when he gets angry.

"Not fair? **NOT FAIR**? I'll tell you what's **NOT FAIR**… what's not fair is you leaving me when we were ten years old and going to another school, where I had to live out my high school days being ridiculed for being smart and not having anyone to share my pain with. **NOT FAIR** is not having my best friend to talk to every day. **NOT FAIR**, is you showing up on my prom night, telling me you're going to leave, telling me that you love me, and having sex with me, **KNOCKING ME UP** and leaving me two weeks later. **NOT FAIR** is having a **MISCARRIAGE** and having to lie to my father. **NOT FAIR** is my mother, having to keep this secret from my father, someone that she promised to **NEVER** keep secrets from. **NOT FAIR** is you showing up here, all cavalier, all handsome and charming, thinking that you can **GODDAMNED START OVER! THAT IS WHAT IS NOT FAIR! YOU BROKE MY HEART, MY SOUL, AND MY SPIRIT, AND I DON'T CARE IF I EVER TALK TO YOU AGAIN**!" Katie screamed, as she shuffled her charts together and stormed out of the on call room. Leaving a stunned Matthew standing for several seconds, his head down in thought.

He lifts his head up, tears welling up in his eyes as he runs out of the on call room, hoping to be able to catch up to her.

Neither one noticing the sleeping Derek on the top bunk in the far end of the on call room, having been woken up by his daughter's angry tirade. His face, ghost white, his eyes a hollow blue as tears descended his cheeks in disappointment.

-------------------------------

Katie runs through the halls of the hospital, she tosses the charts onto the nurse's station desk and takes the stairs down to the tunnels and looks around to make sure that no one is around. She crawls under one of the gurneys in the tunnel and lie on her back, her eyes filled with tears, her heart broken once again.

She cries silent tears as she hears footsteps running in the hallway. She knows that it is him, but she stays very quiet. He stops in front of the gurneys and she sees his feet turn one way and the other. Suddenly, his feet disappear up onto the gurney as Katie feels his weight push down the mattress. She expects him to say something to her, but he doesn't.

She feels stupid for coming down to the tunnels, he knew that she'd be here, how could he not? This is where they always went when they were in the hospital trying to get away from someone. They had spent a lot of time in the halls of the tunnels when they would escape from the nursery, or their parents, of course he would remember.

She listens to the sound of his breathing. The longer he lies there, the more deep breaths he takes, she can feel him move around on the mattress and suddenly he lets out a cry. He begins to sob uncontrollably on the mattress above her. He cries for the pain that he caused her, he cried for the pain he caused Meredith, and he cried for the pain that he was feeling at that moment.

Katie lies still, her tears begin to flow as she begins to sob as well. She cried for the pain he caused her in the past, she cried for the pain she had caused her mother, she cried for the pain she would cause if her father knew, and she cried for the pain she was causing Matthew now.

Katie listened to his sobs, trying with all the strength she had left, to not give in and crawl up onto the mattress to hold him through his pain.

Matthew listened to her sobs, wishing that he had the strength to climb down and hold her through her pain.

-------------------------------

At 5am, Katie still lie under the gurney awake. It had been an hour since Matthew had stopped crying, but he remained on top of the mattress above her. Suddenly, her pager goes off. She slides out from under the gurney and stifles the pager's beeper.

She stands up and looks down at Matthew lying on the gurney. He lie curled in a ball, his face was tear stained, and something in his dreams was causing him to frown. It took all of Katherine's willpower, and the sound of her pager again to keep herself from touching his face. Looking down at her pager, she took off running to answer it.

-------------------------------

6am

Matthew entered the empty locker room and sat on the bench. He wiped his eyes once again and checked his pager. Alli entered a few minutes later and sat next to him, facing the other direction.

"Hey, you look upset." Alli said softly, putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Yeah, just a bad night." Matthew replied.

"First days are rough, especially when the first day lasts two days." Alli laughed.

Matt smiled politely. "Yeah."

"Do you want to talk about it? You seem really upset." Alli said, leaning over to look at his face.

"Nah, I'm alright, but thanks." Matt said, trying to push the thoughts in his mind about what Katie said out of his head.

"You're welcome. If you ever need someone to talk to, just let me know." Alli said softly.

"Thanks, I just might take you up on that offer." Matt said quietly.

-------------------------------

Katie is walking down the hallway towards the locker room when she stops at the nurse's station to arrange the charts that she had dropped off earlier. When from behind, someone puts their hands over her eyes.

"What's a boxer's favorite drink?" The voice says from behind.

"Punch!" Katie said, turning around, giving the man behind her a solid punch in the gut.

"Ow! Jesus Katie-Butt, you have gotten strong!" Jack says, holding his stomach.

"BUBBLES! I missed you so much!" Katie says putting her arms around his waist, giving him a big hug.

"Ok… cool it with the 'Bubbles'… there are some eligible bachelorettes in this hospital, I don't want them to get the wrong impression." Jack said laughing.

"Would you rather me call you Jacky?" Katie smiled, stepping back from her brother.

"Bubbles it is!" Jack says, giving his sister another hug. "So, you come into town and you couldn't even come look for me?"

"I asked mom and dad where you were, they said you were out on the boat again. I am not going to go out on a boat looking for you. And what's with the hair?" She said, putting her hand through brother's thick head of blonde curls. "You're looking more and more like dad every day."

"Thanks. You're still a dork." He laughed. "How is your first day at work? You look like you're having a bad day."

"I am. I'm having a bad day, bad week, bad life." Katie sighed.

"Ah… the drama queen has returned." Jack smiles.

"No. Matthew Sloan has returned." Katie said with a frown.

Jack's smile instantly disappears. "Matt's back? Where?"

"He's an intern too, to make matters worse, they put him in my group." Katie sighed.

"Maybe you guys can kiss and make up." Jack laughed.

"Get real." Katie said, giving her brother another light punch in the stomach. "How is school?"

"Getting ready to start back up again. Come on, I'll tell you all about it over coffee." Jack says, putting his arm around his sister's shoulder and leading her down the hallway.

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Lunch- 12 pm.

Alli, Katie, and Kristin sit at the lunch table together. Derek walks by their table, he doesn't look at them, just keeps walking.

"Hey dad!" Katie calls out. Derek just keeps walking, he can feel his heart ache a little at his daughter's voice. "Hmm… he must not have heard me." Katie says to her friends. "So, are you guys going to move in, or do I have to find some stranger and let them move in?" Katie says to the two of them.

"I'm in!" They say at the same time.

"Great, but you can't do it tonight, I am having dinner with my parents tonight, but we could do it tomorrow, after our shift, we can start moving things in."

"That sounds like a great idea." Kristin said. "Oh, by the way, who was that hot guy you were hanging out with over coffee this morning. You get all the cute ones, Katie." Kristin said smiling.

"This morning? Coffee? Oh… EW! That was my baby brother!" Katie said, looking grossed out.

"Oh. Sorry. He's still cute." Kristin said, taking another bite of her sandwich.

------------

6 pm- Shepherd's house.

"Derek, are you going to explain to me why you're in such a foul mood?" Meredith asked Derek, who was sitting on the couch, staring off into space. A glass of scotch in one hand.

"I'm fine." Derek responded gruffly.

"Derek."

"I'm not in the mood."

"Not in the mood for what?"

"For your nagging. Leave me alone."

"Derek, the kids are going to be here soon, Matthew is going to be here soon, you had better get out of this mood before dinner."

"Whatever."

::Doorbell rings::

Derek just remains sitting in his chair.

::Doorbell rings::

Derek takes a sip of his scotch.

Meredith comes hastily out of the kitchen. "Derek, what is your problem? You can't even get up to answer the door?" Meredith says, walking quickly past him, Derek just takes a sip from his scotch and continues to look straight ahead.

"Matthew!" Meredith exclaimed, giving him a big hug as he came in through the door.

"Hey Aunt Mer. I missed you!" Matt says as he hugs her tight.

"You keep getting more and more handsome each time I see you. How are your parents? I didnt have enough time to ask you at the hospital." Meredith asked.

"They're fine, they said to say hi. Mom said that she's going to give you a call to check up on me, make sure I'm behaving myself." Matt laughed.

Derek scoffed from his seat on the couch, still looking straight ahead. Meredith and Matt look over him and an awkward silence fills the room.

-------------------------------

Meredith stared at Derek for several seconds, he slowly turned his head and looked at the two of them, his expression empty. "Matt, let's go into the dining room, Katie and Jack will be here shortly." Meredith said, continuing to give her husband the evil eye.

Matthew followed Meredith into the dining room, the tension in the room made him incredibly uncomfortable. "Aunt Mer, did I do something wrong?" Matt asked when he got into the dining room "what's wrong with Uncle Derek?"

"I have no idea, he has been like this since this morning. Maybe he slept wrong on one of those beds at the hospital, he stayed there last night." Meredith replied, Matt nodded his head in understanding.

Fifteen minutes later, Jack came strolling into the kitchen. "Geez, what's dad's problem?"

"Don't worry about it Jack, could you please set the table?" Meredith asked, Jack nodded and began to get things to set the table with.

"Hey Matt, what's up?" Jack asked politely.

"Not much. Got back from London a few days ago, started at the hospital yesterday. Not much more to tell. You guys all got my letters, right?" Matt asked.

"Yep, one letter a month without fail." Meredith smiled as she handed Matthew a bowl with vegetables in it to place on the table in the dining room.

The kitchen door opened and Katie walked in. "Hey." She said simply, walking over to the counter, peeking over her mother's shoulder at the stove. "That looks good. I've missed real food." She says, kissing her mother on the cheek.

Jack comes into the kitchen from the dining room. "Hey Jacks." Katie says. He was followed by Matt. "Matt." She mumbled.

"Hey Katie." Matt says awkwardly.

"Ok, dinner is ready." Meredith says, handing the pot roast over to Katie, who carries it into the dining room with Jack and Matt following behind. "I'll get your father." Meredith says, walking into the living room.

-------------------------------

"Derek, dinner is ready, the kids are waiting in the dining room." Meredith says as she walks into the living room, expecting to see him sitting on the couch. Instead, he is standing near the window, watching the fall rain come down.

"Why would you lie to me?" Derek said coldly, continuing to look out the window.

"Lie to you? What do you mean? I never lied to you about anything." Meredith said, walking up to Derek's side. She reaches her hand out to touch his, but she pushes it away.

"You lied about Katie. You said she was dehydrated. I believed you. You said she went to Mercy West that day because she had passed out and she was dehydrated. When in reality, she was there being treated for a failed pregnancy." Derek said coldly.

Meredith's face went pale. "What? Where did you hear that?" Meredith stuttered.

"Does it really matter where I heard it? All that matters is that it is true. That bastard in there got my sixteen year old daughter pregnant." Derek growled. "It was bad enough that he was leaving her, but he got her pregnant, he had sex with my baby and she had a miscarriage. Meredith, she could have died!" Derek says angrily.

"Derek, we're not having this conversation right now. We can discuss it after dinner, ok? Now just try to relax and let's have a good dinner, alright? It was in the past." Meredith said.

"No Meredith, it's only beginning." Derek said, his jaw clenched, as he put down his scotch glass and walk past her towards the dining room.

-------------------------------

Derek and Meredith entered the dining room in silence. They all began to eat and the dinner conversation was alright. Jack was explaining what Veterinary school was like, Meredith was telling her mother about her first day at work. Derek stayed out of the conversation for the most part, now and then asking for someone to pass something to him.

At one point, Meredith noticed that Derek wasn't looking like he felt very well. "Derek, are you alright? You're sweating pretty badly, are you feeling ok?"

"I'm fine." Was his reply.

"Are you sure?" Meredith asked, noticing him wipe the sweat from his forehead.

"I said I'm fine." Derek said. Everyone went back to eating.

"Aunt Mer, I walked into the backyard, it still looks the same from when we were little, the swingset is still kept up and everything. I think that's great! We had such good memories here." Matt smiled slightly, looking over at Katie, who smiled a little.

"Yeah, George and Izzie's little girl visits on occasion, Lilybeth, you'll meet her I'm sure." Meredith smiled. "Derek, are you sure you're alright?" Meredith says looking over at Derek, who's breathing has appeared to become labored.

"I'm fine." He said, getting up from the table. "I just need to get a little air. It's a little warm in here." He says as he stands up.

"Daddy, are you sure you're ok?" Katie said, standing up. Derek begins to take very deep breaths, beginning to hyperventilate. He starts to waver and Matt stands up and goes to grab his arm. Suddenly, Derek grabs his chest and leans over the chair. "DADDY!" Katie screams.

"DEREK!" Meredith screams. "JACK CALL 911!" Meredith screamed as Derek fell to the floor.

-------------------------------

With the ambulance on the way, Derek lay on the ground, having had Matthew quickly check his pulse and make sure he was still breathing. Matthew then grabbed Derek under his armpits and dragged him through the doorway to a more open area. Derek lay, on the ground, breathing heavily.

Meredith falls to the floor crying hysterically while Jack talks with the dispatcher about Derek's condition. Katherine ran to the kitchen to get a wet cloth as Matthew continued to monitor his breathing. Suddenly, Derek's eyes flutter open, his breathing closer to normal. Matthew is standing over him, Meredith is lying in the corner continuing to cry, petrified.

"Uncle Derek, its me, Matthew, can you hear me? Uncle Derek?" Matthew said in calm tone.

Katie rushed to his side. "Here Matty, here's a cloth!"

"Thanks Katie, go take care of Mom, his breathing is becoming more normal, he seems to be recovering quickly. It doesn't look like it was a heart attack. It might be angina or a panic attack." Matthew says quickly as Katie runs to her mother's side and pulls her mother close to her, she begins to cry as she holds Meredith.

Derek suddenly tries to get up, only to be stopped by Matt's hands pushing him back onto the floor lightly. "I am fine, just let me get up." Derek says groggily. "I was just overheated." Derek argued.

"No, Uncle Derek, you're staying on the floor until the ambulance gets here." Matthew says calmly to Derek. He looks up at Meredith and Katie cradling each other in tears. "Are you two alright, he's ok now. We'll just get him to the hospital and he'll be as good as new." Matthew said, reassuringly.

"Where is Meredith?" Derek asks, beginning to get nervous because he cannot see her.

"I'm right here, baby." Meredith says, crawling towards him, putting her hand on his cheek, tears running down her face.

"I don't want to go to the hospital. I just must have gotten lightheaded." Derek said softly.

"No, you have to go for some tests, Dad." Jack said from his father's side.

"It's alright sweetheart, you'll be alright. We're going to take you to the hospital and they'll do some tests and you'll be fine. I love you." Meredith said, bending down and giving Derek a kiss on his forehead.

Matthew crawls over and sits next to Katie. Her head falls into his lap as she begins to sob. Matthew carefully runs his fingers through her hair as they wait for the ambulance to arrive.

-------------------------------

When the ambulance arrived, Derek was alert enough to stand up and walk around, so he requested that Meredith just bring him to Seattle Grace for some tests to find out what had happened. Matthew and Jack helped Derek into the car and the three kids stayed at the house while Meredith brought Derek to the hospital.

Jack sat down on the porch step and Matt and Katie stood at the driveway for a few moments until the car was out of sight.

"That was so scary. I am so glad that it wasn't worse. At least they're on their way to see Uncle Doc." Katie whispered to Matt. Not thinking, she grabbed his hand and pulled him towards the house. He was surprised by the action, but inside, his heart soared and his fingertips tingled under her touch.

He sat down next to Jack on the porch, Katie sat next to him, her hand still in his, leaning her head on his shoulder before she realized what she had done. She then pulled her hand back quicker than she had intended, eliciting a sad sigh from Matthew's lips.

"Now what do we do?" Jack asked.

"We can either sit here and wait…" Katie said with a sly grin, standing up in front of Matt, throwing caution to the wind, she grabbed his and Jack's hand. "Or we can go out and have some fun."

Jack and Matt look at one another for a second. "Fun." They say at the same time. They get up and all walk towards Katie's car.

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9:00 pm.

::Knock knock::

Cristina, and Charlotte are sitting in front of the television watching a movie when they hear a knock at the door. Cristina stands up and looks through the peep hole.

"Holy crap, we're being invaded." Cristina exclaims.

"Invaded?" Charlotte asks concerned.

"By Shepherds!" Cristina says as she opens the door and the three come bursting inside with hugs.

"Aunt Crissy!" Katie squeals as she runs in and gives Cristina a big hug. "CHARLOTTE!" she squeals even louder as Charlotte does the same and gives Katie a big hug.

"Hey Aunt Cris." Matt says with a hug.

"Matthew! I heard you're an intern at Grace. Its so nice to see you again!" Cristina said, giving Matt a hug.

"Yep. I'm doing well." Matt said with a smile.

"And you. Did you wash your hands before you came into my house, do I have to check your pockets?" Cristina asks Jack.

"Aunt Crissy, I haven't come into your house with dirty hands or worms in my pockets in at least…. Two weeks." Jack says with a smile.

"What are you three doing here?" Cristina asked.

"We're here to kidnap Char. We're going to go out and have some fun. Dad had a little bit of a health scare… hence the reason why Uncle Doc probably isn't home yet."

"Health scare, what happened?" Cristina asked, panicked.

"Just a panic attack, we're not sure what brought it on, but we had them page Uncle Doc for an exam. Mom is with him now." Jack explained.

"Ok. I'm going to call the hospital to check up with them. Well… Go ahead Charlotte, I'll see you guys later." Cristina says with a smile.

Charlotte grabbed her coat and the four of them headed out the door, after each giving Cristina a hug goodbye.

-------------------------------

Katie drove the four of them around a little bit, trying to figure out what they could do. They had never just hung out, the four of them, and Charlotte was too young to go to the bar, so they had to find something 'quasi-innocent'. They drove around looking around for places to go. Jack had suggested a diner, Katie said that it was boring. A movie would be too 'date like'. Suddenly, Matthew saw Katie get a little twinkle in her eye. Her lips turned up in a mischievous grin. She looked over at him and noticed that he was watching her. Her smile widened, making his heart warm, giving him a smile.

"Matty, remember that night that my Mom and Dad were both on call and we stayed at your house. We had to have been about seven or eight years old. We snuck out of the house after your parents went to bed and walked down to the park." Katie said.

"Yeah." He said, thinking back.

"Do you remember what we did?" Katie asked.

"Yeah." He grinned wider.

Katie pulled the car into the parking lot of a large neighborhood park and turned the car off.

"What are we doing?" Jack asked.

Katie opened her car door and jumped out, and Matt jumped out of his side. He ducked his head back into the car for a second with a big grin on his face. "We're playing hide and seek…. YOU'RE IT!" He yelled and he and Katie ran off into the park to hide.

-------------------------------

Jack and Charlotte jumped out of the car quickly and looked around. Matt and Katie had already disappeared into the darkness.

"What do we do?" Jack asked.

"I guess we play. He said you're it." Charlotte giggled and took off into the park.

"Hey! I thought we were in this together!" Jack called to her, only hearing her giggle harder as she too disappeared into the darkness. Jack took off into the park and immediately went to the jungle gym. He climbed onto the tube slide and under the tire swing. He listened carefully and he could hear Charlotte giggling behind one of the slides.

"I found you!" He laughed as he ran after her. He reached out and touched her arm. "You're it!" He said as he ran off into the darkness. Charlotte took a little while looking here and there as she searched around the jungle gym. She listened carefully and heard someone step on a stick within the little stand of pine trees. She ran into the trees and saw the motion of someone moving.

"I see you!" She laughed as she ran through the darkness. She stood still so that the person who was running would think she gave up. She hears that person run past her and she jumps out and grabs their arm. Matt jumped in surprise.

"You're it!" She laughed and ran back through the trees. Matt listened for a moment to see if anyone was coming when he found a pine tree that he could climb up into. He climbed high enough that he could see some movement in the park below. He stayed in the tree for a very long time, waiting for the other three to want to give up, or think that the game was over. He looked below and saw Katie lurking in the shadows of the tree.

He carefully climbed down a few branches without giving away his hiding spot. Suddenly, a branch that he was standing on began to crack. Katie watched in horror as Matt came crashing to the ground, landing on his back.

"Matt!" Katie screamed, running to his side. He lay on his back with his eyes closed. "Matt! Are you alright? I knew we shouldn't have done this!" She cries out. She leans over his body, frantic.

Suddenly, Matt reaches up with his arms and pulls Katie on top of him. He kisses her passionately, she doesn't fight it. He rolls her onto her back and pulls away, breathless. He looks her in the eyes. "You're it." He whispered.

Katie kissed him hard, putting every ounce of her being into the kiss. Matthew did the same, running his hands up and down her body as he listened to her pleasure filled moans beneath him.

Suddenly, something in Katie snapped. "I can't do this." She said as she tried to pull him off of her.

"What do you mean you can't do this? We are meant to be together! We have always been meant for one another!" Matt argues.

"I know… I … no… I mean… I don't know. Matt, we can't do this… we can't." Katie said, standing up, leaving Matt lying on the ground. "We have to go." Katie said. "I'm going to go find Jack and Charlotte."

Matthew jumped up. "No! You can't leave me like this, you can't kiss me like that and tell me that you don't love me back. You can't leave me!" Matt said frustrated.

"You left me. I loved you and you left me, don't you dare ever forget that." Katie growled, taking a step closer to him.

"I wrote you letters. I told you how much I missed you in each one of those letters. What did you do with them? Didn't you read them?"

"No. It hurt too much." Katie said, tears welling up. "I threw them away, every time a letter would come, I had to throw it away."

"I poured my heart and soul into those letters and you threw them away? How could you do something like that? Even if you didn't love me, you could have at least accept that I love you."

"What is the point Matt. If you weren't here to be with me, what is the point of loving you? Besides, if you love me so much, if you missed me so much, why did you have a one night stand with Elisabeth?" Katie said coldly.

"Who? What are you talking about?" Matt said, confused.

"Elisabeth… in the bar. You don't remember?" Katie said angrily.

"But it was you!" Matt yelled.

"Yes! But you didn't know that. You slept with her anyway. Is that how love works?" Katie yelled.

"It was a mistake!" Matthew yelled.

"Damn straight it was a mistake. Just like it was a mistake for me to fall in love with you and it would be a mistake if we decided to be together now. We are done, we are through, give it up. I threw your letters out because I hate you. I hate what you did to me, I hate what I have become because of you. I hate you Matthew Sloan and there is nothing that you can do about it. So just give it up." Katie yelled as she got up to find Jack and Charlotte, leaving Matthew standing there, alone and broken.

-------------------------------

The four of them gathered at the car and got in silently. Jack and Charlotte couldn't understand the sudden change in mood of their sullen companions, but knew that they should get home soon anyway, because Katie and Matt had to go into the hospital in the morning.

Katie drove Charlotte home and drove silently back to Meredith and Derek's house, where Matt got out of the car quietly and got into his car and left. Katie walked up the porch steps with Jack and they entered the empty house.

Katie pressed the answering machine button and her mother's voice came over the line saying that she and Derek were going to be staying at the hospital since Burke wanted to keep him under observation overnight.

"I'm going to stay here tonight." Katie said to Jack, who nodded as he headed up the stairs to his bedroom.

Katie cleared off the dinner table and tried her hardest not to think of Matthew. Her mind was racing and her heart was broken, and before she knew it she was on her way upstairs to her old bedroom.

She entered the room that she had grown up in since she was five years old, things had definitely changed since then. She went to the cedar chest at the end of her bed and opened it carefully. She moved some of the old blankets around and pulled out her old fuzzy brown dog that she had since she was a baby. She smiled as she held it in her arms.

She ran her fingers over the worn fur of his face and the place where his little plastic nose had fallen off and Izzie had sewn one on for him. Tears began to flow down her face as she set the fuzzy brown dog next to her on the bed and dug even deeper into the chest for what she was looking for. She pulled out a large shoe box and carefully put it on the bed. She took a deep breath as she lifted the lid.

Packed neatly inside was over two hundred unopened letters. She pulled out the first one and stared at the envelope for several minutes. She ran her finger over the stamp and the return address in the corner. She lifted the letter to her face and smelled the stale smell of old stationary, but if she tried hard enough, she could still smell the cologne that he had worn that night at prom.

She looked at the letter and her fingers trembled as she put her index finger on the flap of the envelope to open it. Suddenly, sadness overwhelmed her and she carefully slid the letter back in its place and closed the lid of the box. She put it back, deep into her cedar chest and closed the lid as she picked up her fuzzy brown dog and crawled up her bed to her pillow, wrapping herself in her warm blankets and cried herself to sleep.  
Katherine arrived at the hospital a half hour before pre-rounds. She walked down to the room that her mother had said that her father was staying in and arrived at the door just as Meredith stepped out.

"Hi mom, how is daddy feeling?" Katie asked, with a half smile.

"Hey sweetheart. He's awake if you want to go see him, he is just itching to get out of bed now. Can we talk later?" Meredith asked Katie, concerned.

"Sure, Mom. Maybe at lunch time." Katie says quietly as she turns the doorknob and steps inside Derek's room.

Katie walks in and Derek is eating breakfast, a bowl of muesli that Meredith had brought for him. "Hey daddy, how are you feeling?" Katie asked sweetly, walking to her father's bedside.

"Fine. I'm fine." Derek said coldly.

"Daddy, what's wrong? Are you mad at me?" Katie asks, playing with the blanket on the bed between her fingers, looking at her father as he avoids eye contact.

"Yes. I'm angry at you and I'm angry at your mother and I am angry at Matthew, he betray my trust. Yes Katherine. I am angry, and I am more disappointed in you than I have ever been." Derek said coldly.

"You know?" Katie asked, her face going pure white.

"Of course I know." Derek growled. "I know and I know that you lied to me by keeping this from me. I have a right to know. You were underage, you were a child. I have a right to know everything." Derek said angrily.

"But Daddy…" Katie says, tears in her eyes.

"No, Katie. I had a panic attack of this yesterday, I don't want to repeat that. Please leave, my blood pressure is going up the longer we speak." Derek says coldly.

Katie wanted to say more, but she didn't know what else to say. She just ran out of the room and back down to the locker room as quickly as she could.

-------------------------------

On her way to the locker room, she saw Meredith down the hallway. She ran to her mother quickly, she looked at her angry and out of breath.

"Katherine, what's wrong? What happened?" Meredith asked.

"You told him! I can't believe you told him! You promised you wouldn't tell! Now he hates me. My daddy hates me because you broke your promise." Katherine whispered angrily at her mother.

"Katie… I .." Meredith started to protest.

"No mom. I don't want to talk to you. I will be happy if i never talk to you again! I refuse to talk to you about it, right now I hate you." Katie said, turning around and walking away from Meredith, ignoring her mother's pleads to come back to her.

-------------------------------

Matthew came into the hospital in the morning with only one thought in his mind. He needed to talk with Derek. He kept an eye out for Katie, he didn't want her to see him, he didn't want to make her more upset than she already was. He slipped down the hallway to the nurses station and asked where Dr. Shepherd's room was.

"It's down in 234, he's going to be 'discharged' soon, but he's in his room now." The nurse said to Matthew.

"Thanks." Matt said, smiling at the nurse as he turned and walked down the hallway towards the room. He walked to the room and lightly knocked on the door. There was no answer. Matt cautiously opened the door and peeked inside. Derek was lying on his bed, with his back to the door, his hair disheveled as if he had been running his hands through his hair in frustration.

"Hello?" Matthew said softly. "Uncle Der?"

"What." Derek said gruffly.

"Can I talk to you about something? Its really important."

"Yeah, I don't care." Derek says, still not turning around.

"Uncle Derek. I did something bad a long time ago, and I hurt someone that I really cared about. There were things that I didn't even know that happened and when I got back, all of these feelings just came flooding back. I tried to make things better but she… um.. they don't want to talk about it because there were things that happened that were even worse that I didn't even know happened because of one stupid decision that I made. I also learned that I hurt other people that are connected to this person I care about and they don't know that I hurt them, but if they ever found out, I am afraid that they will hate me just like my friend hates me. I'm babbling… I'm sorry…" Matt said softly.

Derek was quiet for several minutes. Matthew just stood by his bedside staring at his back waiting to see if Derek was going to say anything. Derek then rolled over onto his back and stared at the ceiling for several.

"I'm sorry to bother you Uncle Derek, I'll let you get some rest." Matthew said politely as he turned to walk towards the door.

"Matthew." Derek said, still staring at the ceiling.

"Yeah?" Matt asked, his head tilting to the side curiously.

"I know about it." Derek said simply.

Matthew took a step forward, his eyebrows raised. "You know about it? What do you know?"  
"I think I know everything. How much did you know when Katherine screamed at you in the on-call room?" Derek asked.

"Only the part up until I left…. Wait, how did you know about the on-call room?" Matthew asked.

"Next time, check the bunks before you get in a screaming match in the on-call room." Derek said, still looking at the ceiling.

"So you knew yesterday." Matthew stated.

"Hence the panic attack, the angry wife, and the angry daughter." Derek said quietly.

"And the angry brain surgeon." Matthew said.

"Don't get cute with me." Derek said, looking at Matthew angrily.

"Sorry." Matthew whispered.

"So you took advantage of my daughter on her prom night and you got her pregnant. I should kill you, you know." Derek said, turning his head, looking Matthew in the eyes.

"I know, sir." Matthew whispered. "May I please explain myself?"

"Go ahead." Derek said.

"Well… Katie and I had been best friends since we met and when I moved away, I found myself thinking about her more and more. I mean, maybe it was that I just missed her, maybe it was my raging hormones…" Matthew started.

"You're not helping your case any." Derek commented.

Matthew paused. "Oh… yeah… the point." Matthew says. "Well, somewhere along the way I figured out that I loved her. I truly loved her, Uncle Derek. I mean… I am not talking a high school crush."

" I mean, my heart would literally skip a beat when she laughed. Her smile could lift me out of any bad mood that I found myself in. Her voice could lull me to sleep at night and give me the most amazing dreams. Just the slightest touch of her hand, even when she would touch my shoulder when laughing at a joke, it would send something like electricity shooting through my body. I found myself wanting to share everything with her."

"Prom was a mistake, Uncle Derek. It should have never happened. If I had known what I had caused that night, I would have been here immediately to take responsibility. "

"I wrote her letters every other week. I BEGGED her to ask me to come home. I promised her that I would be on the next plane home, all she had to do was ask. Do you know how I had to live for the past nine years not having the woman that I love by my side? "

"I didn't have her smile, I didn't have her laugh, my nights were filled with nightmares and sad and angry thoughts. I have never felt the electricity with another woman like I feel when I am with her. I love her Uncle Derek. I love your daughter and I hurt her so much. "

"I am sorry that they had to lie to you, but they did it because they love you. They love you and your love so much that they didn't want to risk you being the slightest bit disappointed in them. Please don't punish them for my stupid decision. They love you more than anything else in the world. "

"When I look at you and Aunt Meredith, Uncle Derek, there is something in the way you look at one another, the way that you put your hand in the small of her back when you walk with her somewhere, the way that you smile when you catch a glimpse of her in the hallway, the way that you sneak a kiss whenever you get close to one another. These are all things that you don't even realize people see, but they do. They see that love that you have for one another. That, Uncle Derek, is how I feel about Katherine. I just wish she felt the same way about me."

"You told her that you would come home?" Derek asked seriously.

"Yes. In every letter. I told her all that she had to do was ask and I would be there." Matthew said nodding. "She said she threw them out." Matthew said sadly.

"She didn't throw them out Matthew. She loves you so much. I see the way she looks at you, I see the way that she smiles when she talks about you. She has loved you since you were kids, and she has never stopped. But you hurt her, you hurt her a lot by leaving and I know that moving wasn't your fault, and I don't blame you for getting a good education, but you have to understand where she is coming from too. "

"Matthew, I lived five years without the woman that I love because I hurt her so much. I know what you're feeling, I know exactly what you mean about those sleepless nights and the longing of her touch. I forgive you for what you did that night, but you can never hurt her again, do you understand me? She went through months of depression after you left for college and I never, ever want to see her like that again. I am giving you one chance Matthew, you have one chance to redeem yourself in my eyes. If you hurt her again, I will not be able to forgive you. Is that understood?"

Matthew nodded.

"Matthew, as strange as it might sound, you are my princesses' prince charming, only you can rescue her. Go, rescue her." Derek said, tears rolling down his cheeks.

"Thank you Uncle Derek!" Matthew said as he gave Derek a hug. "And Uncle Derek? I'm sorry that I made you upset yesterday."

"It's alright Matthew, I'll be fine. But could you do me one favor?"

"What is it?"

"If you see your Aunt Mer, could you ask her to please come see me?" Derek says with a half grin.

"I can do that Uncle Derek. Thanks again." Matthew smiles as he leaves the room.

-------------------------------

Ten minutes later, the door to Derek's room opened and Meredith walked in to find her husband discharging himself.

"What are you doing?" Meredith said, concerned.

"Writing in my chart." Derek said with a smile, not looking up.

"You can't do that, you're not your own doctor."

"Eh." He said shrugging his shoulders, sitting down on the bed.

"Matthew said you were looking for me. Your mood has changed considerably since this morning. Did they give you something?" Meredith asked, sensing that it was alright to make a joke. "Let me see that." Meredith says, grabbing the chart from his hand and sitting next to him on the bed.

"You signed Burke's name!" Meredith exclaimed.

"Yeah? So?"

"Derek… I don't remember the last time that Burke put a smiley face in the middle of the 'o' in Preston."

"Well, he should start. I like happy doctors." Derek said, nudging Meredith with a McDreamy smile.

"What is with you? Are you manic depressive or something? Do you have a fever?" Meredith reached up and touched his forehead.

"No!" Derek said. "But I feel another attack coming on" Derek said, breathing deeply, holding his breath for a moment.

"Really? Are you ok?" Meredith said, standing up, looking at him concerned.

"Oh, I'm fine… because its not an attack on me. It's on you. It's a TICKLE ATTACK!" Derek laughs, pulling Meredith on top of him, on the bed, tickling her the whole way.

"Ok guys… that's enough in here." A voice comes from the doorway.

"It's ok Preston, I already discharged myself." He said, lying on his back, holding a giggling Meredith with one arm and the chart in the air with the other.

-------------------------------

Katherine went directly to her resident that morning after talking to Meredith and requested to work in the pit for the day. She explained that she had a long night and wasn't feeling well, so her resident obliged and Katie headed to the pit. Matthew was assigned to Dr. Bailey for the day, so he didn't even get a chance to look for Katie all day.

At lunch, Matthew sat at the lunch table with Alli, Kristin and Joe, hoping that maybe Katie would show up. His spirits were considerably better than they had been that morning, but he was getting a little frustrated that he hadn't seen Katie. It made him a little sad to know that she was avoiding him.

"So, you guys are moving into Katie's place huh?" Matt asked, taking a bite of his sandwich.

"Yep, tonight after our shift. Katie's brother is going to help us move our stuff in. He is really hot." Kristin said with a smile.

"Come on guys, he's practically my brother." Matt laughed.

"You sound like Katie." Alli giggled. "Are you going to be helping?" Alli asked.

"Actually, probably not. I think I'm going to stay out of Katie's hair for a little while. I don't know. I might stop over later if she wants me to come over."

"You really like her, don't you?" Alli laughed.

"We're just friends. We grew up together, so we're close." Matt smiled, remembering his conversation with Derek that morning.

"Matt, do you know anything about cars?" Alli asked.

"A little, why?" Matt said.

"Mine is making a strange rattling noise when I turn it on and it kind of makes me nervous. Could you take a look at it? I mean… lunch is almost over, but I don't want to waste money on a mechanic if I can just ask someone I know to take a quick look at it."

"Sure, I can do that." Matt said with a smile as he grabbed a couple more French fries off his tray and shoved them into his mouth.

"Come on!" Alli laughed as she pulled his arm out of the cafeteria.

----------------

At lunch, Katherine used the time to call Jack, who was helping to move some of her belongings from their parents house to where she was staying.

"Jacks. Don't drop the cedar chest. No… be very careful with it! Well put the phone down then and pick it up with both hands, you moron." Katie says into the phone while standing on the bridge above the lobby. "No, you cannot take anything out of it, it all fits perfectly. Don't forget that there are three boxes in the big closet next to the stairs, they have my name on it. Are you going to come over and help my new roommates move in? Come on, you don't have to go out into the boat tonight! PLEASE? Thank you baby brother, I'll talk to you soon. Thanks. Bye." She flipped her cell phone closed and watched the people walking around in the lobby.

She saw Alli dragging Matthew outside by the arm, laughing and giggling.


	40. Chapter 40

**Chapter 40-**

8pm.

"Where do you want this?" Jack asked Alli as he brought in a large box of her belongings into her room.

"Over there! Thank you so much! I think that's the last box!" Alli smiled. "It was so nice of Katie to let us move in before she got out of work tonight, I thought we were going to be doing this in the dark all alone!" Alli laughed.

"Yeah, she didn't want you guys to be nervous about being someplace you weren't sure of alone, I couldn't see the point of making you guys do it all alone. How about a pizza? My treat?" Jack said.

"Sounds great!" Alli and Kristin said together.

--------------------------------

Matthew drove his car around the block fourteen times and chickened out. He was ready to try to make things right with Katie, but he wasn't sure how he was going to do it. Every time he passed the house, his heart would race and his foot would push harder on the accelerator, sending him around the block. Finally, he decided on going for a ride on the ferry to clear his mind before he decided to come back.

--------------------------------

10:00 pm.

Katie slams into the house and drops her bag on the floor. Alli, Kristin and Jack are sitting on the couches watching television and eating snacks.

"Hey Katie, what's up?" Jack says. "Your stuff is up in your room."

"Thanks." She says quickly. "Hey, I'm glad you guys got in alright. I'm just going to go into my room and go to bed. I'm exhausted. I'll see you tomorrow." She says as she gives everyone a quick glance and climbs the stairs to her bedroom. Her bedroom door slams and is locked.

Katie walks into her bedroom looking at the haphazard way that Jack had put her things in the bedroom. Her eye keeps traveling back to the cedar chest, which was obviously placed at the end of her bed with care. Jack knew how much it had meant to her, it was her grandmother's and it was a gift for her on her sixteenth birthday. She slowly walks over to the chest and opens up the top once again. The objects hadn't been shifted much, making her smile.

She dug to the bottom once again and pulled out the large shoebox. It had been on her mind all day long. She looked at the door, to ensure that it was locked. She opened the lid if to box and looked inside at the letters. She pulled out the first one, the first letter that she had received from him, one week after he had left. She holds the letter loosely in her hand, turning it over and looking at his handwriting. He had such delicate handwriting, it made her smile thinking about him sitting down to write her a letter. 

She frowned when she thought about how sad she was when she received it, and how she promised herself that she would never open them. She sat quietly for a moment, looking at the letter and just held her breath as she put her finger under the envelope flap and pulled the flap up on the letter. She pulled the letter out and held it in front of her face. She closed her eyes, trying to convince herself that it was all right to read it. She opened her eyes and quickly devoured the words that were on the paper.

--------------------------------

She dug to the bottom once again and pulled out the large shoebox. It had been on her mind all day long. She looked at the door, to ensure that it was locked. She opened the lid if to box and looked inside at the letters. She pulled out the first one, the first letter that she had received from him, one week after he had left. She holds the letter loosely in her hand, turning it over and looking at his handwriting. He had such delicate handwriting, it made her smile thinking about him sitting down to write her a letter.

She frowned when she thought about how sad she was when she received it, and how she promised herself that she would never open them. She sat quietly for a moment, looking at the letter and just held her breath as she put her finger under the envelope flap and pulled the flap up on the letter. She pulled the letter out and held it in front of her face. She closed her eyes, trying to convince herself that it was all right to read it. She opened her eyes and quickly devoured the words that were on the paper.

_June 22, 2022_

My Dearest Katherine,

It has been four weeks since the prom and I miss you so very much. I want you to know, that night was the most magical night I have ever had. You are so beautiful, and you make me feel so complete. I am sorry that I ruined that night by telling you that I still had to leave. I will regret doing that for the rest of my life.

I am sorry that you were too sad to say goodbye to me when I left, but it is alright because I will be coming home. I will be coming back to you. I have thought about it and I know that if you ask me, just once, all you have to do is ask me, and I will come back to you. I love you so much and I know in my heart that you love me. I miss you so much, everything I do makes me think of you. I miss your smile, I miss your laugh. I miss the way it feels when you touch me. I love you and I need you.

Please find it in your heart to forgive me.  
Call me home, I will come.

Love Forever,

Matthew Derek Sloan.

Tears fell down her face as she read the words on the paper, she wiped them gently on her hand as she stared at the words. She carefully slipped the letter back into the envelope and pulled another letter from the box.

_  
January 29, 2024_

Happy Birthday!

Yep, I remembered that it was your birthday, how can I forget? You and I used to spend all of your birthdays together, shaking your presents to try to figure out what each one was!

I had a better day today, but only because it was your birthday. I have been so depressed lately, I just can't stand it anymore! I want to come home to you, I am just waiting for you to tell me to. I just want to hear your voice.

So I went down to the sweets shop today, in honor of your birthday and I bought two slices of cake, one for you and one for me! You didn't seem to want yours, so I just ate it for you. I hope that made you smile, God how I miss your smile. Do you remember that place that your parents used to go all the time for cheesecake? They used to take us for a ferry ride and we'd go across to that diner. It had the best cheesecake ever! I think it was Nicky's Diner or something. I remember that. It makes me happy to remember that.

I hope you got what you wanted for your birthday. I hope I get what I want for mine. You have a great day and don't forget that I will always love you.

All you have to do is call for me.

Love Forever and a week,

Matty Sloan: Birthday wisher.

Katherine continued to cry softly and gently slipped the letter into its envelope and slides it into the box. She puts the lid on the box and stares at it for a while. She then opens the box again and pours the letters out onto the bed. She grabs her fuzzy brown dog and lays down among the letters and drifts to sleep.

--------------------------------

12:00 am-

Matthew finally works up the nerve to walk to the door. He peeks inside and sees Alli sitting on the couch watching television alone. He lightly raps on the door and watches as Alli comes to the door. She opens the door slightly and when she sees that is Matt, she opens it wide with a big smile on her face.

"Hey Matt, what do you need?" Alli said smiling.

"I was wondering if Katie was around." Matthew asked nervously.

"She is in her room, I think she's sleeping." Alli replied. "Come on, we'll go check." Alli said, leading Matthew up the stairs. They reached Katie's room and Alli tries to turn the doorknob. "Looks like its locked." She whispers to Matt, whose look of hope turned to disappointment.

"Hey, you wanna see my room? I think I got the bigger one!" Alli says grinning as she grabs Matthew's hand and leads him to her room, closing the door behind them.

--------------------------------

Matthew looks around the room for a moment. "Wow, you really did get the bigger room." He commented.

"Yeah, Katie gave me the master bedroom and she took the one that she grew up in. Have you ever been here before?"

"Once or twice when I was really young, but I don't remember it very well. They moved into their new house not long after I met the Shepherds."

"How long have you known them?" Alli asks as she sits down on the bed, patting the spot next to her.

"I've known them since I was four years old. The Shepherd's relationship is one of the greatest love stories ever experienced." Matthew sighed as he sit down and lay back on the bed, with his arms behind his head.

"Really?" Alli asked, leaning back in the same position.

"Yep, with evil witches, killer bees, lost loves… you name it, it's in there."

"Tell me more about them." Alli said, rolling onto her side, propping her head up with her hand, resting her elbow on the bed.

--------------------------------

5am.

Matthew wakes up and finds himself lying in a stranger's bed. He's fully clothed and suddenly realized that he must have fallen asleep while talking to Alli. She lay next to him, curled in her blanket, sound asleep.

"Crap." He whispers as he gets up. He grabs his jacket and slips his shoes on.

He opens the door at the same time as the door across the hall opens. Katie steps out and her eyes meet his, they stand staring into one another's eyes before either of them dares to move.

"Crap." Matthew mumbles as he continues to stare into her eyes.

--------------------------------

5am.

Matthew wakes up and finds himself lying in a stranger's bed. He's fully clothed and suddenly realized that he must have fallen asleep while talking to Alli. She lay next to him, curled in her blanket, sound asleep.

"Crap." He whispers as he gets up. He grabs his jacket and slips his shoes on.

He opens the door at the same time as the door across the hall opens. Katie steps out and her eyes meet his, they stand staring into one another's eyes before either of them dares to move.

"Crap." Matthew mumbles as he continues to stare into her eyes.

"Crap is right!" Katie says angrily as she turns to go back into her room.

"Katie!" Matt cries, running from Alli's room, he sticks his foot in the door just as she's about to close it.

"GET OUT, GET OUT!" She yells as she pushes the door against his foot.

"No. Calm down!" He says as he pushes the door open with both arms, pushing Katie farther into the room, entering and closing the door behind him.

"What do you want?" She demands, standing in front of her bed, trying to block the letters that are strewn about on the covers.

"I want to talk to you. What are you hiding?" Matt said, trying to look around her.

"Nothing! GET OUT!" She yells, she reaches out and tries to push him toward the door. He grabs her wrists and pushes her backwards onto the bed, landing in the middle of the letters, he straddles her and holds her wrists down.

"I am NOT leaving!" He says angrily as he holds her down.

::Knock knock::

"Is everything alright in there?" Kristin's voice comes from the other side of the door. Matthew quickly covers Katie's mouth.

"We're fine, just talking." Matt says.

"Katie?" Kristin says.

Matthew gives her a look and slowly uncovers her mouth. She gives him the evil eye as she answers. "Everything is fine, we're just talking." Katie responds.

"Ok, if you need anything, I'll be out here." Kristin responded, walking away.

Matthew turns his attention back to Katie and continues to straddle her. "Tell me what's going on here." Matthew says, indicating the letters on the bed.

"You don't get the right to know what is going on here, not since you came out of that room." Katie said, closing her eyes.

"Open your eyes and look at me right now." Matt said, leaning over her, his face inches from hers.

"No. I hate you." Katie said, keeping her eyes closed.

"I love you." Matthew says. "I was in there waiting for you, you had the door locked, I came to see you. I spent the whole night in her room talking about you." Matt said softly.

"Whatever, I hate you." Katie said, wriggling underneath him, pushing his chest with her arms. "Get off of me now!"

"No, not until you believe me." Matt insisted.

"I believe you, get off of me." Katie said, struggling.

"You don't believe me!" Matt says. "Here, I'll prove to you how much I love you." Matt says as he shifts himself, continuing to be on top of her. He lifts up a handful of letters.

"DON'T TOUCH THOSE!" Katie screams, grabbing for the letters.

"Shut up." Matt says, making Katie stop struggling for a few seconds.

"Just be quiet. Listen, you see this letter here?" Matt says, holding up a letter, he reads the date on it. "This letter here is when I wrote to you to tell you that I was going to the dentist to get my wisdom teeth out and that I was very nervous about the anesthesia and that the only thing that got me through it, was thinking of you." 

"This letter here, this letter was my 24th birthday when I told you that I thought of calling you for the four millionth time, the only difference of this time was that I actually heard the phone ringing on the other side. I was so scared that I hung it up again. "

"This letter here!" He said, indicating another letter, his voice becoming more desparate. "This letter was written three months ago. This is the letter that I told you that sometimes I get so depressed thinking about how I haven't heard from you, I go to the bridge in the village that I am staying in and I stand on the edge, over the water, contemplating which would be a more painful death, falling to my death, into the cold, deadly water, or risking you not returning my love. Right now, right at this very moment, when you say that you hate me, I wish that I had jumped from that bridge." Matthew says, his eyes filling with tears.

"I don't know what to say." Katie said, tears in her eyes.

"Say you love me." Matt whispered.

"I…We have to get to work." Katie said, trying to get up.

"Katherine!" Matt said a little louder than he had intended as he pushed her back onto the bed.

"What?" She said, her tears streaming down her face.

"Do you love me? Yes or no." Matt asked. Katie just lies there, staring at him with her eyes wide. He knows the answer, he just needs to hear her say it.

--------------------------------

"Katherine!" Matt said a little louder than he had intended as he pushed her back onto the bed.

"What?" She said, her tears streaming down her face.

"Do you love me? Yes or no." Matt asked. Katie just lies there, staring at him with her eyes wide. He knows the answer, he just needs to hear her say it.

Katie stares into his eyes, the tears that he is holding back is heart wrenching for her to see. She tries to avert her gaze and he immediately puts his hand gently on her cheek as he pushes her face lightly so that she is looking at him. She closes her eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling.

"Fine." Matthew said suddenly as he began to lift himself off of her.

"No!" Katie says, pulling his arms. He lands hard on top of her pushing the air from her lungs in a gasp. "Don't jump. Please don't jump." She whimpers, burying her head into his chest as he rolls to his side on top of the piles of letters, he takes a deep breath and sighs into her hair, taking in the sweet scent of her and he lets her cry into him.

She cries into his chest for several minutes and eventually, her cries lessen and she just lies there with her face in his chest. "Matty?" Katie said, her heart beating faster.

"Yeah?" He whispers into her hair as he drops a kiss into it.

"I am scared." She whispers into his chest.

"What are you afraid of?" He says softly, dropping another kiss onto her head.

"I am afraid of how much I love you. I don't want to get hurt." She whispers as she fiddles with the ring on her finger, her head still down, refusing to look him in the eyes.

"Look at me." Matthew said to her, pulling away a little, she continued to look down. "Katie, look at me now." Matt said a little more firmly.

"No." She said quietly, with a hint of a smile. "You're going to have to make me, McBossy." She said with a slight giggle, a grin spreading across her face as she puts her hands down and runs her fingers delicately along the edge of his jeans.

"Katie, what are you doing?" He asked, with a smile, as he squirmed on the bed as she unbuttoned his jeans.

She suddenly rolls so that she is sitting up on the edge of the bed and she gets up and walks towards the door. "I'm going to take a shower, we have to go to work." She says as she opens the door and watches him laying on the bed, his face flushed. She steps out for a moment and closes the door. Matthew lets out the breath he was holding as he buttons his pants.

"What are you doing?" He jumps at the sound of her voice.

"What?"

"You have to take a shower too. Hurry or we're going to be late." She says with a sly grin as she turns and walks out of the door.

--------------------------------

Katie and Matt make it back into Katie's room after their 'long, hot shower' Katie stands next to her dresser looking for clothes while Matt sits on the bed, staring off in thought.

"Wow." Matt commented, continuing to stare at the wall.

"What?" Katie says, playfully.

"Just, wow." Matt says as he starts to turn toward Katie.

She quickly covers herself with a towel. "Turn around." She says, her face serious.

"What?" Matt said, standing up, walking towards her.

"I said turn around! I'm getting dressed!" She said, motioning for him to turn around.

"But Katie, we just… twice… we…" Matt stutters.

"I know what we did, just turn around." Katie says to a confused Matt, who turns around.

"But…"

"No 'but', we aren't together." Katie stated with a smile.

"What do you …." Matt said, turning around, only to be greeted by a dirty look from Katie, he turns back around. "What do you mean? You do remember the shower, right? You remember telling me that you love me… right? I love you."

"I love you too" Katie says as she pulls her shirt over her head. She walks over to him and whispers in his ear. "But we're not together." She says breathily in his ear, giving him shivers. "Now get dressed, we have to get to work!" Katie says, turning and walking out the door.

-----------------

Katie is walking out of a patient's room, looking down at the chart and practically runs into her mother. "Oh, excuse me." Katie mumbles, not looking up.

"Katie?" Meredith says, her daughter's head snaps up.

"Mom! I'm sorry about that." Katie says as she walks past Meredith. She stops for a moment and turns back to her mother, who continued down the hallway. "Mom." Katie calls down the hallway.

Meredith turns and looks at her, eyebrows raised in question.

"How about we have that lunch talk that you offered yesterday. I have a few things I need to sort through." Katie said with a half smile.

"Sure. That sounds nice." Meredith replied with a smile mirroring her daughter's.

--------------------------------

1:00pm

Meredith sits at her lunch table, farther away from the other doctors and interns. She sits and sees Katie coming through the doors, talking and laughing with Matt as she points over at Meredith and waves goodbye to him. He leans in for a kiss and she puts her hand on his face and pushes it away with a laugh. She looks over at Meredith and smiles and walks over with her lunch.

"Hey mom. I'm sorry I have been such a jerk." Katie says, setting her lunch down and giving Meredith a hug.

"I know. Are you alright?" Meredith asks.

"Yeah, I'm fine. Matt said that daddy isn't as upset anymore, how is he feeling?" Katie asks as she sits down.

Meredith blushes a little, hoping that her daughter wouldn't notice. "Oh, from what I can tell, he's doing just fine." Meredith says smiling. "I didn't tell him you know." Meredith says sadly.

"I know. It was my fault. We had an argument in the on call room and I didn't know dad was there. Dad told Matt that was how he heard." Katie said. Her mother gave her a knowing glance.

"What is going on with you and Matt?"

"Nothing. We're not going out or anything, we're just friends." Katie says, taking a bite of her sandwich. "Why?"

"Because he's watching you." Meredith says, glancing over at where Matthew sits, watching her.

"So?" Katie says with a giggle.

"I mean… he's really watching you, like your dad used to watch me." Meredith said, turning her head so she's looking right at him. "Get up and walk over to get napkins." Meredith says, indicating the little lunch cart. Katie does it and he doesn't even care that everyone sees him watching her, he just continues to watch her. "Just like your father!" Meredith exclaims when he followed her with his eyes.

"I'm not going out with him."

"He is REALLY watching you."

"I am so not going out with him."

"If you want that to remain true, my only advice is to stay out of the elevator." Meredith laughs as she continues eating lunch.

"Mom." Katie says, quietly to her mother, who is looking down at her tray.

"Hmm?" Meredith says looking up.

"He still does." Katie says, nodding her head in the opposite direction. There, sitting at a table across the room was Derek, watching his wife and his daughter eat their lunch. His eyes catch Meredith's and he flashes her a McDreamy smile.

"And he always will." Meredith smiled back.

--------------------------------

After lunch, Katie walked over to the elevators and waited for the doors to open.

"Hey, where are you going?" A voice came from behind. She turned around and Matthew stood behind her.

"Third floor."

"Me too." Matt beamed. Katie turned around and saw the smile on his face.

"I am SO taking the stairs." She says, turning around with a smile.

He watches after her. "What? Why?" He smiles when he hears her giggles on her way to the stairs.

--------------------------------

That evening, Meredith is changing in the locker room when Derek pops his head in. "Hey, do you want to go out to dinner tonight?" He asks, smiling.

"Dinner? Where?" Meredith smiles at her grinning husband.

"I don't know. I was thinking someplace nice." Derek says stepping into the room with his hands behind his back.

"What are you hiding?" She says, walking up to him, putting her arms around him to reach for what is in his hand.

"Me? Hiding something?" Derek says as he pulls a bag from behind his back. "Here, put this on, we're going to dinner with the Burkes." He smiles, hands her the bag and starts out the door.

"Dinner with the Burkes?" Meredith says, with a surprised look on her face.

"Get dressed." He says as he sticks his tongue out at her and walks out, closing the door behind him.

--------------------------------

Intern Locker room-

"Dinner?"

"No."

"Movie?"

"No."

"Snuggling?"

"No."

"Snorkling?"

"Snorkling?"

"Yeah. Anything I do with you would be fun."

"I am SO not going out with you." Katie says as she stands up, kisses him on the cheek and walks out of the locker room.

--------------------------------

Meredith and Derek arrive at the restaurant, they get to the table just as Cristina and Preston arrive. They stand and greet them and sit down, Cristina and Meredith on one side and the men on the other side.

"What's going on?" Meredith asks as their wine is served.

"What do you mean what's going on?" Cristina asked, a small smile playing across her face.

"You three all have a look on your face like you're going to spring some big news on me that I'm not prepared for." Meredith says to Cristina.

"We do, but that's going to have to wait until after we eat dinner. I'm starved." Cristina says.

"Me too!" Preston and Derek say as Meredith gives them all a dirty look.

--------------------------------

"Are you sure you won't go to dinner with me?"

"No."

"No you're not sure, or no you don't want to have dinner with me."

"No dinner."

"How about a movie? We could watch it here, I'll be good."

"No."

"No to the movie?"

"No, you won't be good."

"How about we go play mini golf."

"What?"

"Mini golf!"

"Why did you follow me home?"

"Because I love you."

--------------------------------

"So what is this big surprise?" Meredith says, as she sets her napkin down after finishing her meal.

"You're going to have to wait until after dessert." Derek teased.

"What if I don't want dessert?" Meredith teased back.

"Then you don't get to know the surprise." Burke says as he continues to eat.

"This isn't fair, I feel like I'm going against a firing squad here!" Meredith says.

"Bang." Cristina quips as she takes another bite.

--------------------------------

"So, what do I do?"

"You take the little ball and you hit it with the little stick through the little hole in the middle of the windmill."

"I know THAT! I mean, what do I do about you following me everywhere?"

"I didn't follow you here, you got into my car willingly."

"You begged!"

"You begged."

"I did not."

"Did too."

"Just hit the ball. I hate you."

"I love you."

"I love you too, now just hit the ball!"

"Ha! You said it!"

"I am SO not going out with you!"

--------------------------------

10:30 pm.

"Ok, so you want to know the news?" Derek said smiling.

"YES!" Meredith says as she leans her elbow on the table and sips from her coffee mug.

"Go ahead Preston." Derek said, looking at Preston, who is smiling.

"I'm retiring." Preston says with a grin.

"Retiring? Why?" Meredith says, looking confused.

"I am going to do a little bit of traveling. Charlotte is in college now, Cristina is at Mercy West, kicking butt in their Cardio unit, I just think its time I got out and helped people elsewhere, what do you think?"

"I think it's great Preston! But why the big dinner just to tell us that you're retiring?" Meredith says, realizing the reason before she can stop herself. "Really? You asked Derek?" Meredith grinned as Preston nodded.

Meredith got up from her side of the table and walked over to Derek. She wrapped her arms around him tightly and kissed his head. "I am so proud of you! This is so great! My husband! Chief of surgery! How long have you known?" Meredith says, sitting back down and stretching her arms across the table to hold his hands.

"About a week." Derek says with a sly grin.

"You have known for a week and you didn't tell me?! I love you so much!" Meredith says as she squeezes his hands. "Isn't this great?" Meredith says, turning to Cristina.

"Peachy." Cristina says with a half smile as she sips her drink. Meredith just turns and continues to stare into Derek's eyes.

--------------------------------

12:00am.

"Katie?"

"Mm…."

"Katie…?"

"Mmmmwhat?"

"You fell asleep during the movie, why don't you get upstairs and get to bed, I'll get going."

"Mmm.. .No…"

"Come on, you should get to bed, I should go home."

"No."

"You don't want to go to bed?"

"No, I don't want you to go home." She mumbles as she cuddles deeper into his chest.

"What do you mean you don't want me to go home?" Matthew asked, running his fingers through her hair.

"Don't wanna be lonely." She mumbled.

"You have roommates, you won't be lonely. They're sleeping, but they're here." Matthew said, bending his head down and giving her a kiss on her head.

"No, you can't go. You just got here." Katie whined as she grabbed his shirt and tugged on it as she looked up into his eyes.

"We have been watching a movie for two hours. Come on, let me take you up to bed." Matt says as he pulls her into his lap. She puts her arms around his neck and he carefully lifts her off the couch and carries her up the stairs to her bedroom. He sets her down on her bed and as he goes to stand up, he realizes that her hands are still tightly gripping his t-shirt. "What are you doing?"

"Keeping you here." She giggles as she pulls his shirt harder and he falls onto the bed on top of her.

"I thought you weren't going out with me…"

"We're not going out, silly." She says as she rolls on top of him. "We're staying in tonight." She says as she pulls his shirt up and starts to kiss his chest.

--------------------------------

3am-

Katie rolls over in bed, Matthew is lying next to her. "Hey." She says, pushing on his shoulder. "Hey, wake up."

"Mmm... what?" He says, his eyes half open.

"Remember that time in first grade when Sam Grady said he was going to beat you up and you hid in the bathroom all day? I remember. You made me bring you lunch in the bathroom and Mrs. Randolph yelled at me for going into the boys room."

"Yeah. Why?"

"That was funny."

"You woke me up for that?"

"Yep." Katie says as she closes her eyes, rolls over, puts her back to Matthew.

"I love you." Matthew says as he puts his arm around her and snuggles.

"Imstillnotgoingoutwithyou." Katie mumbles into her pillow.

--------------------------------

6am-

::ring ring::

"mm…"

::ring ring::

Katie reaches down to the side of the bed and pulls the phone out of a pair of jeans. "mmm…hello. Uh. He's right here, who is calling? Uh huh. Yep, I'll be sure to tell him." Katie jumps out of bed and throws on her robe. She takes the cell phone in her hand and throws it.

"OW!" Matt yelps as it bounces off the side of his head. "What the hell was that for?"

Katie walks to the door and opens it. "Your girlfriend called. She's in town and wants to see you. Get out." She says angrily as she slams the door behind her.

--------------------------------

"KATIE!" Matthew screamed as he jumped out of the bed with his cell phone in his hand and ran out of the room in only his underwear. Alli walks out of her room.

"What's going… oh.. .um…sorry." She turns around and walks back into her room quickly.

"Shit!" Matthew yells as he hears her car start and her tires squeal on the pavement as she drives away. "Shit shit shit!" He screamed as he flipped open the phone to make sure the name of the last person who called was who he thought it was. "GODDAMN IT!" He screams and throws the phone against the wall and runs back into the bedroom to get dressed.


	41. Chapter 41

**Chapter 41-**

Katie drives directly to the hospital. She walks into the front doors and goes directly to the locker room. She quickly takes a shower, changes into her scrubs and leaves the locker room quickly, nearly running over her father.

"Dad… er… Dr. Shepherd!" Katie says as she steadies herself.

"Hey, you're here before your shift, are you alright?" Derek asks.

"Me? Oh. Um… yeah, I'm fine." Katie stutters.

"You're sure?"

"Um… yeah, I .. just have to find my resident." Katie says, flustered, trying to clear her mind while also attempting to not to begin to cry at this moment.

"Come with me, I'm on my way to a surgery, you can scrub in." Derek says, lightly putting his hand on his daughter's shoulder, leading her down the hallway.

-----------------------

Matthew comes running into the building at full speed, he rushes up the stairs and starts running for the locker room. He sees Katie walking down the hallway with her father. She is looking up at him talking to him, tears in her eyes, while he puts a supportive hand on her shoulder and talks with her.

"Shit." Matt mumbles as he ducks into the locker room.

-----------------------

Derek and Katherine walk down the hallway to a patient's room and he leads her inside.

He picks up the young woman's chart and begins to look through it. "Mrs. Raymond, this is Dr. Shepherd, she'll be preparing you for your surgery today." Derek says to the woman.

"Shepherd? I have two Dr. Shepherds?" The woman laughs, just as Meredith sticks her head in the door.

"Dr. Shepherd, I'm going to need a consult in 231 when you get a second." Meredith says with a smile seeing Katie in the room also.

"I'll be right there, Dr. Shepherd." Derek laughs as he turns to Katie. "I'll be right back, get her ready for surgery and I'll page you when I'm ready."

"Yes, sir." Katie smiles as Derek turns and walks out of the room.

"Three Dr. Shepherds? Wow."

"Yep, its pretty confusing now and then." Katie laughs.

"You look just like your daddy." Mrs. Raymond remarks.

"My mother says I act just like him too!" Katie says with a smile.

"That's not another Dr. Shepherd over there, hovering by the door is it?" Mrs. Raymond asks, seeing someone at the door, trying not to be seen.

Katherine turns around. "Oh. No. That's Dr. Sloan, someone I'd rather not talk to right now." Katherine says with a frown and a growl as she walks towards the door and closes the door in his face.

-----------------------

Katherine stayed close to her father all day, who was happy to keep Matthew out of her way. He was very angry with him and also tried to avoid him, though he wasn't afraid to throw him a dirty look when there was any eye contact.

-----------------------

9pm- Emerald City Bar.

Katie walks into the bar and sits on a barstool. "Hey Joe. I'll have two of my usual. I don't have to work tomorrow and I just don't care about anything anymore." Katie mumbles as she puts her elbows on the bar.

"Bad day?"

"Bad life, Joe. Make it four shots." Katie says as she quickly downs the first two shots.

"Hey hey, slow it down, or you're going to have a worse day tomorrow."

"Who cares?" Katie says as she puts her head in her hands.

The door opens to the bar and Preston and Derek step inside. "Hey, there's Katie over there, she looks upset." Preston says, nodding towards the bar.

"Yeah, she is having boy troubles. I've been bugging her all day, we should just let her relax alone, from the way she's drinking, it looks like that's the way she wants to stay." Derek said quietly as they walked to a booth and sat down. A waitress takes their orders and goes to the bar to get their drinks.

"Is that the boy that's causing the trouble?" Burke says, as Matthew steps through the door into the bar.

"Yeah. I need to have a word with him." Derek says as he starts to slide out of the booth.

"Shep, let them work it out. We'll be right here if there is any trouble. Katie's just like her mother, she won't take his crap." Burke says, stopping Derek from standing up.

Derek slides back into the booth and lets out a small laugh. "You're right; she's stubborn and has a mean right hook, just like her mother." Derek says.

-----------------------

"Katie?" Matthew says as he sits on the barstool next to Katie.

"Joe, did you hear something?" Katie says, looking across the bar, ignoring Matt. "I could have sworn I heard a tiny little pathetic mouse squeaking in my ear." Katie says angrily.

"Nope, didn't hear anything." Joe says, looking up, seeing the sad look on Matt's face and continuing to pour another patron a drink.

"Hmm… that's strange."

"Katie, listen to me. She's not my girlfriend, I only went out on a couple of dates with her in med school, she's from Spokane, it was just someone to talk to from home when I was so far away." Matthew said.

"Gee Joe, it sure is getting drafty in here. I think I'm going to move farther from the door." Katie says, getting up from her stool, grabbing her drink and moving down several barstools.

Matthew stands up and follows her. "Katie, will you please listen to me?" Matt said quietly.

Katie turned around. "No, you listen to me Matthew Sloan. I recommend you leave me alone right now unless you want to leave this bar bleeding, is that understood? Don't you dare even think about following me home." Katie growled at him.

"But I lo…"

"Shut the hell up, or I will kill you right here." Katie says angrily, putting her finger in his face. "Now turn your little piddly ass around and go sit down someplace else." She says pointing behind him.

"Man, I think she's serious." Joe says from behind the bar as he hands her two more shots of tequila and she drinks both of them down.

"Fine." Matt says as he puts his head down and walks away.

Ten minutes later, a gentleman sits down next to Katie at the bar. "Hey, you come here often?" He laughs as he nudges her with his elbow.

Katie whips around, ready to snap at the man beside her, but a big smile spreads across her face. "That your new pick up line?" She laughs as she puts her hand on his.

"Maybe." He laughs back.  
"Burke, is that the new cardio attending sitting over with Katherine?" Derek says as he watches his daughter laughing with the man at the bar.

"Yeah, that's Rick Baker, why?" Preston asks.

"Isn't he married?" Derek asks as he watches Katie put her hand on his back and rub it a little, laughing, she puts her head on his shoulder.

"Yeah, I think so, I think he has a baby at home, why?" Preston asks.

"Um…Because my daughter just whispered something in his ear and they're leaving together." Derek says, not believing his eyes.

Just as they reach the door, Katie trips a little and Dr. Baker helps support her for a second, they laugh as they leave the bar, arm in arm. Derek jumps from his seat, and walks quickly towards the door, as he's approaching the door, he realizes Matt, who was in a booth farther down also saw what had happened and was heading towards the door.

Derek turns and stares him down for a second, Matt turns and walks back to the booth as Derek sprints out the door after Katie.

-----------------------

Rick walks Katie out of the bar and towards his car when they hear footsteps running up behind them. Rick turns around quickly and puts himself in front of Katie, not recognizing Derek.

"What do you want?" Rick says defensively.

"What the hell do you think you're doing?" Derek says angrily.

Katie walks out from behind Rick, and stumbles a little. "Dad, go away."

"Dad? Your dad follows you to bars?" Rick says confused.

"It's a long story, I'll tell you later, go start the car." Katie giggles as she gives him a little push. Rick gives Derek a smug look and turns around to walk to his car, glancing back now and then at the two staring angrily at one another.

Derek grabs Katie's arm and drags her out of earshot of Rick. "What the hell do you think you're doing?"

"Who cares what I'm doing. I'm twenty six years old, I can do whatever the hell I want." Katie says, slurring her speech.

"Katherine!"

"Don't Katherine me!" She yells.

"Keep your voice down. You can't go with him. You're drunk and he's married!" Derek said angrily.

"Didn't stop you and mom." Katie laughs.

"What did you just say to me?" Derek said, grabbing her arm.

"Don't you touch me!" Katie yelled, yanking her arm from his grasp. "You can just go the hell away, ok. You and Matt can get into your little fucking 'asshole' boat and sail it down the river 'hypocrite' and into the ocean of hell. I just don't even goddamned give a shit anymore. Just leave me the fuck alone. This is my life, not yours. I can pick and choose who is a part of my life, and right now, I want Rick. Just go to hell, and you can tell Matt over there to go to hell too." Katie says, indicating Matthew standing in the doorway of the bar. She turns around and walks toward Rick's car.

-----------------------

Derek just stands there in disbelief as he watches his daughter climb into the car with Rick and he drives away. He had so much anger building up inside him, but he had no idea how to react to his daughter's explosion.

Matthew walked up next to Derek, he is also watching Katie leave. "You should have let me get her. I wouldn't have let her go." Matthew says, watching the car leave the parking lot.

"Say one more word, and I will kill you." Derek said under his breath.

Both men just continue to stare off to where the car disappears into the distance.

-----------------------

10pm.- Izzie and George's house

::knock knock::

"Katie?" George says, surprised as he opens the door.

"Uncle Georgie, remember when I was eight and I told you that I wanted to run away and you told me that I should just call you and you'd come pick me up and let me cry on your shoulder?"

"Um. Yeah." George said. "Katie, what are you doing here?"

"I am running away again." She says, tears spilling down her cheeks as George takes her into his arms and hugs her.

"George, who's at the…. Katie?" Izzie says coming down the stairs.

"Aunt Izzie!" Katie says as she runs to hug Izzie on the stairs. Izzie sits her down next to her on the bottom step and hugs her. "Help me." Katie says as she sobs into her shoulder.

-----------------------

Katie cried for several more minutes, before Izzie stood up and took her hand. "Come on sweetheart, let's go over to the couch and sit, you can tell us what is going on." Izzie said as she led Katie to the couch. "George, could you get Katie a glass of milk?"

"Sure." George said, still startled by Katie's arrival.

Izzie sits on the one end of the couch and puts Katie's head in her lap as Katie kicks her shoes off and puts her feet up on the couch, lying down. Izzie runs her hand soothingly through Katie's hair and lets her sob. "It's alright sweetheart, you'll be fine." Izzie says softly, kissing her head.

George comes into the room and sets the glass of milk on the coffee table and sits on the floor next to the couch so his face is even with Katie's. He puts his hand up on her cheek and looks up at Izzie, very concerned. Izzie gives him the same look back as they just sit with her and let her cry. Soon, her cries slow and she hiccups a little, to get her breathing back to normal. George wipes the tears from her eyes as Izzie continues to brush her hair back. "Katie, you need to tell us what's going on." George says, trying to get her to talk.

"I miss you guys." Katie says, sniffling. "Why'd you have to go into private practice, Georgie?" Katie smiled slightly.

"I miss you too, Katie-bug. Now what's the problem?"

Katie took a deep breath and looked at George as she just lay everything out for them.

"Well, this was my first week in my internship and Matt showed up all dreamy and wonderful and he wanted me back but I told him no way but I had sex with him when I met him in the bar the day before my internship, but I didn't know it was him until the next day and I went to work and there's matt, the guy that I had sex with the night before and he's an intern at the hospital too and then dad found out about my secret and I had a fight with mom and dad about that and then I slept with matt again last night and found out this morning that he actually has a girlfriend so then I went to the bar and I was talking with a really hot attending, who just happens to be married, and I left the bar with him but dad stopped me and yelled at me and pretty much called me a whore and I yelled at him and left with the hot attending, which I had only asked for a ride home because I'm so freaking drunk right now and I yelled at dad because he was being way too overprotective and the hot attending dropped me off here because I don't want to go home because I know that either dad is there, or matt is there and I don't have to work tomorrow so I was wondering if I could stay here with you." Katie takes a deep breath.

"Holy crap." George says.

"This sounds way too familiar." Izzie says with a nervous laugh. "Of course you can stay here sweetheart." She says, giving George a pleading look.

"But only on one condition." George finishes. "You have to spend some time with your Goddaughter." George smiles.

Katie sniffles. "I think I can do that." She says with a smile. "Thanks guys."

"No problem, now sit up and drink your milk, I'll go get you some blankets for the couch." Izzie says, standing up.

-----------------------

Derek walks back into the bar, leaving Matthew to continue to stare out into the street. He walks to his table and stands , looking down at Preston.

"She left?" Preston asks.

"She left." Derek said, looking defeated. "Listen, I'm going back over to the hospital. Meredith is on call tonight, I need to talk to her. I'll see you later Preston." Derek says and he turns and walks out of the bar.

He walks out of the doors and he sees the silhouette of Matthew, standing in the same place that he had left him, staring off into the street. Derek walks over to him and puts his hand on his shoulder.

"Come on Matt, let's go. Me, you and your Aunt Mer need to have a long talk."

-----------------------

Derek and Matt walk over to the hospital and Derek leads him to the nurses station. "Can you tell me where Dr. Shepherd is?" Derek asks the nurse behind the desk.

"She's in OR 1, Dr. Shepherd, I think she just started." The nurse replied.

"Thank you." He says to the nurse. "Come on." Derek says to Matt as he walks down to the elevator. They take the elevator upstairs and walk down the hallway to the gallery. Derek opens the door and lets Matt past him. "Sit down." Derek says. He walks over to the monitor and turns it on.

Matt sits down and Derek sits down next to him, looking down onto the surgery. "See that?" Derek says. "That woman down there is the most beautiful thing that ever walked on the earth." Derek says as he looked lovingly down at his wife. He looks over at Matthew and stands up. He points at the monitor. "Do you see those fingers? Do you see how lightly and delicately they move over this patient's body? I love those fingers. I love the way they move, the way they look, the way that they taste. I love everything about that woman down there. Everything. I would do anything for her you know…."

Matthew just nodded as he watched the surgery downstairs.

"This is the best part." Derek says as he moves over to the intercom and switches it on. After a few seconds, they can hear Meredith's voice telling the scrub nurses what to do. "You hear her voice? Oh, I love the sound of her voice." Derek says as he sits down and puts his head back, listening to her ask for a clamp and a couple other things. He looks over at Matthew. "This is probably the only time she barks orders at anyone that isn't directed at me." Derek laughs. He sits up and presses the intercom button. "Tell me something." He says into the speaker. Meredith looks up at the sound of his voice, he can see her smile under her mask, because her eyes are smiling up at him.

"We have an audience." Meredith laughs.

"Sure do, you're doing a great job Dr. Shepherd." Derek laughs into the intercom.

"Thank you Dr. Shepherd. Don't fall asleep up there again. I love you." Meredith says up at him.

"I love you too." Derek says as he switches off the speaker and turns to Matt. "I love her." He says softly. "I love Katie too, and I know you do too."

Matt nodded his head, just listening.

"But you have to do me a favor. You have to stop chasing her. Please? She went out tonight and did something really stupid, really dangerous, and really uncharacteristic that I just don't like. Please, let her have her space? Trust me Matthew, its for the best."

"I don't think I can do that Derek." Matthew says whispers. "I just don't think I can do that. All of those things that you said about Meredith. The way her fingers move, the way she smiles, the way she moves her hands, the sound of her voice. I know exactly what you mean."

"Matt, if you don't stay away from Katie, I'm going to be forced to transfer her or you to another hospital." Derek warned.

"You can't…"

"Yes, I can… and I will if you don't leave her alone." Derek said. "Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to listen to the beautiful music." Derek says, sitting back and listening to the sound of Meredith's voice.

Matthew just sits there, staring down at the surgery, his heart beginning to fill with despair.

-----------------------

12 am-

Matthew sat in the gallery and watched the entire surgery. When the surgery was complete and Meredith walked into the scrub room, Matthew looked over at Derek. He was sound asleep in his chair, his feet stretched out onto another chair and he was snoring peacefully. Matt quietly got up and watched Derek the entire time as he slipped out of the room.

He walks towards the elevator and takes it down to the next floor down, as the doors open, it reveals Meredith standing there waiting for it. She smiles slightly as she steps inside the elevator and Matthew takes a deep breath as the doors close. "Is he sleeping up there again?" Meredith said with a smile.

"Yeah." Matt said nervously.

"He always does this when I'm on call, he hates to go home alone. I have to go wake him up." She said as she waited for the elevator to reach the floor.

Matthew reaches around her and hits the stop button on the elevator.

"Matthew? What are you doing?"

"We need to talk, Dr. Shepherd." Matthew says angrily.

-----------------------

12 am-

Matthew sat in the gallery and watched the entire surgery. When the surgery was complete and Meredith walked into the scrub room, Matthew looked over at Derek. He was sound asleep in his chair, his feet stretched out onto another chair and he was snoring peacefully. Matt quietly got up and watched Derek the entire time as he slipped out of the room.

He walks towards the elevator and takes it down to the next floor down, as the doors open, it reveals Meredith standing there waiting for it. She smiles slightly as she steps inside the elevator and Matthew takes a deep breath as the doors close. "Is he sleeping up there again?" Meredith said with a smile.

"Yeah." Matt said nervously.

"He always does this when I'm on call, he hates to go home alone. I have to go wake him up." She said as she waited for the elevator to reach the floor.

Matthew reaches around her and hits the stop button on the elevator.

"Matthew? What are you doing?"

"We need to talk Dr. Shepherd." Matthew says angrily.

"Matthew, I don't think it's a wise idea to trap an attending in an elevator."

"He threatened me." Matthew said angrily.

"Who threatened you?"

"Derek. He said that if I didn't leave Katie alone, then either I or she will be transferred. He can't do that!" Matthew said, banging his fist on the side of the elevator, Meredith moves back.

"Matthew, you're making me nervous." Meredith said, reaching for the button.  
Matthew grabs her hand and holds it for a moment, looking into her eyes.

"Please listen to me. Please! I need her! She is all I have!"

"It doesn't sound very characteristic of Derek to do, to tell you to stay away from her, what happened tonight?" Meredith said, taking her hand back, continuing to look into the boys deep green eyes.

"We had an argument this morning."

"Yes."

"An old girlfriend called and she wanted to see me, but Katie answered the phone and left before I could explain that I hadn't seen this girl in almost two years."

"And."

"And she wouldn't listen to me when I tried to explain."

"She's stubborn, like her father."

"Tonight she went to the bar and she went home with a guy."

"And in other ways she's like me." Meredith says under her breath.

"What?"

"Nothing, go on. So Derek is upset because you made her angry enough to go sleep with another man?"

"Yeah. That, and she screamed at him in the parking lot calling him a hypocrite and to go to hell. She went home with a married attending, she left with him in his car, they drove away and Derek and I were left standing there."

"Wait… she picked up a guy in a bar in front of both you and her father?"

"Yes. I don't think she knew that Derek was there, he ran after her when they left the bar and confronted her."

"Then she yelled at him." Meredith replied.

"Then he told me not to see her anymore."

"Ok. So what is the problem?"

"He told me not to see her anymore!"

"You want my advice?"

"Yes."

"Don't see her anymore."

"What?"

"Listen, if Derek isn't on your side on this, I can't be. Katie is still going to do whatever she wants, so my advice is to just follow your heart. If you want to defy Derek, then you are risking your career, but I'm not going to tell you to defy him if that's what you want me to do. I'm not in the business of giving advice that would defy him. He's a smart man and he'll come to his senses soon enough, don't give up." Meredith said.

She reaches out and pushes the elevator button again. "Also, I wouldn't make it a habit of trapping me in an elevator." Meredith says as the elevator doors open. "I could kick your ass." She smiles as she steps off and walks down towards the gallery.

-----------------------

Meredith opens the gallery door and walks inside. Derek is still sitting there with his feet stretched out, his mouth slightly open as he sleeps peacefully in the uncomfortable chair. She walks to his side and looks down at him and smiles. Suddenly, he reaches out and grabs her hand, turning her around, his feet drop and he scoops her into his lap. She squeals as he catches her in his arms with a sleepy smile on his face and pulls her closer to him..

"And what do you want?" He says, giving her a hug.

"Just waking up the sleepy bear." She said, cuddling her head into his neck.

"What's on your mind, baby?"

"Why do you think something is on my mind?"

"Because you have your patented 'Meredith has something on her mind' look on your face." He laughs.

"Matt trapped me in the elevator."

"He did WHAT? I am going to kill him!" Derek said, starting to sit up.

"Relax, sleepy bear, just cuddle me and let me talk." She says, snuggling closer to him. He settles back in the chair and holds her close. "He just told me about what happened tonight and what you said. You are just Mister Bossy tonight, aren't you?"

"I don't sound so tough when you call me that." Derek said, feigning grumpiness as he drops a kiss onto her head.

"Nope, you're not so tough."

"What did you tell him?"

"I told him that I wasn't going to go against your wishes, but he can follow his heart if he dares."

"Thank you."

"For what?"

"For telling him to follow his heart. If I told him that, I wouldn't be Mister Bossy, I'd be Mister Pushover."

"I love you, Mister Pushover." Meredith says, looking up at him.

"I love you back, Mrs. Pushover." He says as he kisses her passionately on the lips.

-----------------------

7am- The next morning.

Katie wakes up and looks around the room, the house is quiet. She quietly gets up off the couch and walks into the kitchen. There is a note on the table from Izzie saying that she and George had gone to work and that she had left the second car for them. She finished by hoping that Katie will enjoy the day with Lilybeth.

She makes her way up the stairs to her Goddaughter's room and peeks inside. Lilybeth lie on her side, a peaceful smile on her face, her blonde curls all messy from sleeping.

Katie grabs a couple of stuffed animals off the chair in the room and goes outside behind the door. She throws a stuffed bear in the room, onto the bed and quickly hides behind the door. She hears Lilybeth stir. "Huh? What?" She says. Katie throws another stuffed animal in the room, landing on Lilybeth's feet. "Hey, what are you doing?"

Katie steps from behind the door. "What? You don't like flying animals?"

"AUNT KATIE!" Lilybeth screeches as she jumps out of her bed and leaps into Katie's arms.

"Now that's the kind of greeting I like to see!" She says, hugging her close. "Let's go have some fun." She says, hugging the little girl and carrying her downstairs for breakfast.

-----------------------

9am

The girls get ready and get into the car. "We have to stop by my place first, I have to change quickly. You can meet my roommates if they're around, but they might be at the hospital."

"Cool!" Lilybeth exclaims as they get into the car.

Katie and Lilybeth are on their way and drive down Katie's street. She looks over at her house and sees an extra car in the driveway. "Crap." Katie mumbles as she drives by the house.

"Crap? Why did you say crap? What's crap?" Lilybeth says from her seat, looking back at the house, she sees a man get up from the porch and get into his car.

"Crap again. He's following me." Katie said, driving down the road.

"Crap again? Who was that? Where are we going? I thought we were going back to your house? Aunt Katie? What's going on?"

Katie looks in the rear view mirror, sure enough, he's still behind her. "All I can say Lily, is when a boy asks you out, just say no."

"That's a boy following us? What does he want? Does he know us? Where are we going? I thought we were going back to your house."

"Did you always ask this many questions?"

"I'm not asking too many questions, am i?"

"Let's go to a movie, he can't follow us there. Anything you want to see?" Katie says as she drives a little faster and loses him by going through a yellow light.

"Sure, we can find something. Who is he?"

"He's my boyfriend. I'm angry at him about something, he's probably angry at me about something. That's why you don't need a boyfriend."

"Boys…. Yuck." Lilybeth said, scrunching her nose up.

"Did I ever tell you that I love you?" Katie smiled.

-----------------------

The girls went into the mall and found a good movie that both of them were interested, Katie kept turning around to see if Matthew was anywhere in sight. They got their popcorn and soda and entered the theater. It was practically empty of movie goers, so the girls worked their way to the middle of the theater and sat down. They had a few minutes to chit chat before the movie started and soon the lights dimmed and they settled down at the movie. A couple people here and there would come into the theater, but the girls just concentrated on the movie.

"Your dad is so mad." Matthew's voice made Katherine nearly jump out of her chair.

"What the fu…heck are you doing here?" Katie whispered furiously. "Go away."

"Yeah, go away." Lilybeth whispered to him. "You're stupid."

"Lily, we don't say stupid." Katie said.

"You're an ass." Lilybeth whispered back at Matt.

"That's much better." Katie said, turning around, continuing to watch the movie.

-----------------------

"Hey, how old is she?" Matt said, leaning his head between the two of them. "You let her say 'ass'?"

"I call them like I see them." Lilybeth says, holding her hand out for a high five from Katie.

"Just in case you missed the memo, we're watching a movie here." Katie whispered back.

"Can I sit next to you?"

"No, you can go home." Katie whispered back.

Matt stood up and walked around, sitting next to Katie. "Go away!" Katie whispered to him, slapping the hand he attempted to put on hers. "I don't want to hold your hand, I don't want you breathing down my neck. I am here watching a movie with my goddaughter and I don't want you near me."

"Your dad told me to stay away from you."

"Good for him." Katie said, refusing to look at him.

"Why did you go home with him last night Katie?"

"Who…. Oh… him. He was hot, you don't think so?" She lowered her voice just so he could hear it. "He was really wild in bed too." She smiled.

"I'm watching the movie." Matt said sitting back folding his arms over his chest with a frown.

-----------------------

Katie watched the movie for a couple of minutes, now and then glancing over at Matt, who was glaring at the screen the entire time, a stern frustrated look on his face. Katie leaned over to Lilybeth.

"I'll be right back Lil, will you be alright?"

"I'll be fine, go talk with McSniffles." Lilybeth laughs while munching on popcorn.

"Thanks sweetie." Katie says, she stands up and grabs Matt's hand. "Come on McSniffles, you're coming with me." Matt stood up and followed her out of the theater.

"What?" He says as they step out of the door of the theater. "What do you want? You made your point, you had sex with him, now you're hanging out with a five year old."

"I wouldn't say that to her if I were you, she'd kick your ass." Katie said seriously. "I didn't sleep with anyone last night Matt. I went to Izzie and George's house. That's their daughter." Katie says, nodding towards the theater. "And she's eight, not five."

"Oh." Matt says, with a sheepish look.

"Now what did you want? Why did you follow us to the theater?"

"Your dad is pissed. What you said to him last night really made him freak out. He hates me. He said if I continued to pursue a relationship with you, then he'll transfer one of us."

"He can't do that."

"He said he can, and that he will."

"Then why don't you stay away from me?"

"I can't, because I lo…"

"You have a girlfriend." Katie said, holding her finger to his lips.

He kisses her finger and grabs her hand and kisses it. "I don't have anyone in my life except for you."

Katie pulls her hand back. "Well, how sad for you. I don't need anyone in mine." Katie said, pulling her hand back. She reaches over, puts one hand on his chest and kissed him on the cheek. "And I won't need anyone until that is proven otherwise." Katie whispered in his ear, her hot breath sending shivers down his spine. "I'm going back to the movie." Katie said, walking back towards the door. She turns, seeing him in the same place she left him, looking after her longingly. She holds her hand out to him. "Aren't you coming?"

He smiles and walks forward, taking her hand as they walk back into the theater.

-----------------------

After the movie was over, Katie, Matt, and Lilybeth just sit there watching the credits for a moment. Lilybeth stands up and looks at the two of them watching the screen, their hands intertwined.

"Are you two dating?"

"Yes." Matt says.

"No." Katie replies at the same time.

"Are you guys going to get married someday?"

"Yes" Matt says.

"No." Katie replies at the same time.

"Do you kiss each other ?" Lilybeth asks.

"Yes." Matt replies.

"No." Katie replies at the same time.

"Can we go now?"

"Yes." They both reply at the same time.

-----------------------

Katie, Matthew leave the theater holding hands as Lilybeth leads them out. "You guys are so gross." Lilybeth throws back at them.

"Shush, Limabean. What do you want to do next?" Katie said, putting her hand on Lilybeth's head and messes up her hair.

Lilybeth reaches up and grabs Katie's hand. "Hey, cut it out, cootie monster!" Lilybeth exclaims. "Let's go get ice cream!" She exclaims as she takes off running through the mall, with Katie and Matt chasing after her. Katie and Matt slow down and suddenly see Lilybeth jump onto the back of someone who is standing in line for ice cream.

They look at one another for a second and run up to her. Then they realize who the little girl was assaulting.

"Hey, what are you two doing here?" Katie asked.

"Getting ice cream, Duh. We went shopping for some fishing poles and stuff. Kristin has never been fishing before." Jack says with a smile, indicating Kristin standing next to him in line.

"Seriously, if you ever wanted to know anything about anything outside, Jack is the one to talk to." Katie said to Kristin. "Aren't you supposed to be in class or something?" Katie asks.

"Its Saturday, dummy." Jack says to his sister.

"Haha! Uncle Jackie called you dummy." Lilybeth exclaims from her perch on Jack's back, making Jack laugh at Katie.

"Haha! Lilybeth called you 'Jackie'" Katie mocked back at Jack.

"Ok guys, that's enough." Matt said, taking Katie's hand. She squeezes it and looks at him quickly with a small smirk.

"Have you seen mom or dad today?" Katie asked, wincing as she thinks of the mood that her father is probably in today.

"Nope, I think they stayed at the hospital last night, mom had a late surgery and dad doesn't go home alone." Jack said. "What are you three doing here?"

"Movie. Well, actually Limabean and I were watching a movie and he just showed up. I'm not talking to him right now."

"You're not talking, but you're holding hands?" Jack asks.

"Yes, there is no law against holding hands. I am still mad at him." Katie nods.

"I'm still here." Matt says.

"We know." Katie and Jack say together.

"Let's go Limabean, we'll let uncle 'yak' hang out with his friend." Katie says, letting go of Matt's hand and grabbing Lilybeth. "We can go get ice cream somewhere else. See you around Jack." Katie says as she waves and walks away with Lilybeth in her arms, Matthew following close behind.

-----------------------

Matthew follows Katie and Lilybeth to their next destination, she pulls the car into the driveway to her house and steps out, Matt pulls in behind her. The three of them walk up the front porch and into the house.

"I have to go take a quick shower and change, since I didn't get a chance to do it this morning, you two can chat. We can go out for ice cream when I'm done." Katie says, leaving Matthew and Lilybeth in the living room as she quickly climbed the stairs.

Matthew walks over to the couch and sits down, Lilybeth follows him and kneels down on the couch next to him, putting her hands on the back.

"You've got a crush on her." Lilybeth teased.

"So?"

"You wanna marry her!" She giggled.

"Yeah? So?" Matt says.

"Nothing, its just cute." Lilybeth laughs as she turns around and sits next to Matt on the couch. "How long have you known Aunt Katie?"

"Since we were four." Matt says, pulling the seashell from his pocket, playing with it in his fingers.

"What's that?" Lilybeth says, pointing at the seashell.

"My good luck charm." Matt says, turning the seashell over and over in his hand.

"You're peculiar." Lilybeth says, watching him turn the shell over in his hand.

"Yeah? Why is that?" He asks, staring down at the shell.

"I dunno, its just the way you look at Aunt Katie. I have never seen anyone act like that around her. You make her smile a lot." Lilybeth says smiling as she jumped off the couch and stood in front of Matt.

"You think she likes me?" Matt asks quietly.

"Nope. I know she loves you. She told me so." Lilybeth says cheerfully as she skipped into the kitchen, leaving Matt to sit and wait for Katie's return.

-----------------------

That evening, Katie brought Lilybeth back home and Izzie brought Katie back to the hospital to pick up her car.

"How are things going with working with your parents around?" Izzie asked, breaking Katherine's thoughtful silence.

"It's fine. It is pretty stressful though, I feel like I'm always being watched. Dad doesn't like Matthew very much." Katie said sadly.

"Are you going to tell Derek the truth about last night?" Izzie asks.

"No. My sex life isn't any of his business, and so what if he thinks I'm a whore, he started the whole argument, I didn't even know he was there. He should know me better than that." Katie said, crossing her arms over her chest.

"Your dad loves you. He's only trying to protect you."

"Well, he needs to trust me." Katie replied angrily.

"If you need anyplace to stay, or if you feel like you want to transfer, Cristina and I are over at Mercy West, we could always use a good intern and I always have a free couch for you to stay on." Izzie says, trying to make Katie feel better as they pull into the hospital parking lot.

"Thanks Aunt Izzie, you're the best. I'll come by and visit Lily again sometime soon. I loved spending time with her today!" Katie says as she gives Izzie a hug and gets out of the car. She watches as Izzie drives away and she gets into her own car and drives towards home.

She pulls into her driveway at her house and rolls her eyes when she sees an extra car in the driveway and someone sitting out on the porch waiting for her.

-----------------------

Katie sits in her car for a few minutes, contemplating whether or not she should go somewhere else or talk to him. She gets out of the car and grabs her bag from the back seat. She walks towards the porch.

"What do you want?" She says gruffly as she walks up beside him.

"I just wanted to come over and tell you that I am sorry." Derek said, looking up at her, patting the spot next to him.

"You're sorry?" Katherine says as she stops next to him.

"Yeah, I just needed you to know. I should know by now that you're a grown up and you can make your own decisions."

"Do you mean it?" Katie asks, sitting down next to him.

"Of course I mean it. I shouldn't yell at you for the choices you make. You are old enough to decide what is wrong for you and what is not. Do you forgive me?" Derek says, his eyes meeting up with his daughter's.

"Of course daddy, I am sorry I yelled at you." Katie said, putting her head on his shoulder.

"I know. I love you Katie-bug." Derek said softly.

"I love you too daddy." Katherine said as the two of them sat in silence, watching cars pass on the street.


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42-

Two weeks later-

Derek has taken over as chief, Preston has officially retired. Things have gotten slowly back to normal. Matt and Katie have decided to take things slowly and to try to be discrete in the hospital, Jack is busy with his college classes, as is Charlotte.

Matthew is walking down the hallway in the morning on the way to the locker room when an arm reaches out from an exam room and pulls him inside as he passes.

He was immediately pushed up against the wall and kissed passionately. Completely surprised by her actions, Matt pulls away for a second. "I thought we were being discrete in the hospital."

"We are, but I'm nervous and when I'm nervous I have to be close to you." Katie smiled as she hugged him close.

"What are you nervous about, sweetheart?" Matt said as he gave her a squeeze.

"Matt, we seriously need to talk about something." Katie said as she made sure that the exam room door was locked.

"What is it sweetheart?" Matt says, grabbing her arm and pulling her into a hug.

"I'm late." Katie said into his scrub shirt.

"Late? We're both late. If you didn't pull me into th…."

"No, Matt. Seriously." Katie says, pulling away from him. "I'm late."

"What? No. No you're not." Matt says indignantly as he pulls himself out of her arms and takes a step back.

"Matt, seriously." She says softly. "I needed to tell you. I don't know what to do."

Matt stood there stunned for a moment, he looked into her eyes and could see the fear building within them, but something suddenly took over his mind. "I can't talk about this right now, I have to go to work." Matthew said as he turned and ran from the room.

-----------------------

"Matt!" Katie called down the hallway, but he just continued to walk briskly in the opposite direction. "Matthew!" She cried out, suddenly realizing that everyone in the hallway was staring at her. Her face turned red as she turned back around and walked into the exam room. She closed the door and locked it as she leaned her back against the wall, sliding down the wall into a fit of tears.

Matthew ran towards the locker room, He can hear Katie calling his name, but he can't seem to stop himself. "This can't be happening, this can't be happening." He repeated to himself, shaking his head, as he entered the locker room and looked in the mirror.

"What can't be happening?" Alli asked from her seat on the bench.

"Nothing." He says abruptly as he turns and walks out of the locker room.

-----------------------

One week later—  
10am-

::ring, ring::

Katherine rolls over in bed and grabs the phone off the receiver and picks it up. "Hello?"  
"Seriously?" "Are you sure that it can't be wrong?" "Yes, I'll come in for an appointment, can I make it this afternoon, its my only day off this week. Thank you. Goodbye."

Katie throws the phone to the ground, rolls back over onto her pillow and begins to cry.

-----------------------

Katie cries for a while, after a half hour, she wipes her tears and steps out of the bed. She picks up her cell phone and tries to call Matt again.

"Matthew, I heard from the hospital. This is really happening. I need you to call me. You have been avoiding me since I told you last week and you're making me very upset. This isn't good for the baby, Matt. I have an appointment today, I will tell you how it goes. I love you. Please call me." Katie sobs into the answering machine, she closes her phone and stares at it, praying that it will ring. She stares at the phone for a little longer and gets an idea. She flips it open and dials a number.

"Mark? This is Katie Shepherd. I need to talk with you about something."

-----------------------

8:30 am- The following morning

Katherine went to her appointment and called Matthew back earlier in the afternoon, she still had not heard anything back from him. It had made her upset earlier in the day, but the more she thought about it, the angrier she was. Mark had been helpful, as soon as she told him what was going on, he made plane reservations on the next available flight to Seattle. Her shift started at five and she nervously made her way to the hospital, her hands shaking in anxiousness as to how the conversation with Matthew will go. She was nervous about how her parents would take the news.

She pulled into the parking lot and she could see Matthew getting out of his car. He glanced in her direction and turned and walked towards the hospital briskly. Katie growled to herself and walked in slowly behind him. She entered the locker room behind him and refused to glance in his direction. She smiled to herself, wondering what Mark was going to say to him, because he obviously didn't tell Matt that he was coming.

"What's with the grin?" Joe asked from his locker next to hers.

"Oh, nothing. Just thinking about how good a healthy dose of Karma feels." Katie said with a grin.

"Oh. Good luck with that." Joe laughed as he finished tying his shoe and walked out of the locker room.

The interns gathered outside of the locker room and the resident began their rounds. The first room the entered was a cardio case with Doctor Baker. Matthew was assigned to work with him and Katie was glad that she wouldn't have to continue rounds with him. She walked past him on the way out the door and he lightly brushed his hand to hers. She looked up at him with evident pain in her eyes and his eyes reflected hers. "We need to talk." Katherine mouthed to him. He nodded his head solemnly.

The next room was a neuro case. Derek smiled a little when they entered the room and began to explain the case. He asked several questions and Katherine was able to answer his questions without even looking up from the notes she was taking.

"Before he is brought in for an MRI, he will need to have his legs x-rayed for possible injuries that he sustained in the car accident." Derek explained. "Dr. Shepherd, since you seem to know what is going on as far as the brain injury, would you like to be involved in this case?" Derek asked with a smile.

Katie looked up from her notes and glanced at the other interns in the group. "Huh? Me?" She said quietly.

"Yes, would you like to have this case?" Derek repeated.

"Um… well… I don't think that it would be a very good idea, I think I'll work um… in the pit today." Katie says nervously.

"Dr. Shepherd, are you alright?" Derek asks, feeling slightly embarrassed by her behavior.

"I can't take this case Dr. Shepherd." Katie says outright.

"Why not, Dr. Shepherd." Derek looks at her sternly.

"Because I cannot be exposed to x-rays right now, not until I talk to my doctor." Katherine explains, looking down at her notes, doodling in her pad.

"What do you mean Katherine?" Derek says, his face turning a brighter shade of red.

"I mean I'm pregnant, Dad." Katie says, looking into her father's eyes.

"You are what?" Derek asks, a little louder than he had expected. The other interns stand there in shock. "Please excuse us for a moment." Derek says as he grabs Katherine's wrist tightly and begins to pull her out of the room.

"Ow! Let go of me!" Katherine struggles as he brings her out into the hallway. "Where are you taking me?"

"We're going to go find Dr. Baker." Derek says angrily as he pulls her down the hallway by her wrist.

"Dr. Baker? Why are we looking for Dr. Baker?" Katherine begged her father to stop pulling her down the hallway.

"He is responsible for this, he is going to be the one to deal with this!" Derek growled.

"NO! Dad! It's not him!" Katie yelled as everyone in the hallway watched him drag her down the hallway. He turned the corner and nearly knocked over someone.

"What the hell Derek!" Mark exclaimed, who had his hand wrapped tightly around Matt's wrist. 

"Mark, what are you doing here?" Derek asked angrily, still holding tightly to Katie's arm.

"I think we all need to talk." Mark says as he drags his son into an exam room. Derek follows him in with Katie struggling and closes the door behind him.

Both fathers let go of their children angrily and stare them down.

"What the hell is going on here? Why are you here?" Derek said to Mark.

"Your daughter called me. She said that Matthew knocked her up and now he won't talk to her. Now they can talk." Mark says angrily.

"He knew about this before I did?" Derek yelled at Katie.

"I found out yesterday Daddy!"

"Don't you call me daddy, don't you dare call me daddy. You have disappointed and embarrassed me. You go around acting like a whore, sleeping around, getting pregnant, that kind of person doesn't get to call me Daddy!" Derek yells, his face turning red in anger, pointing at Katie furiously.

"Don't talk to her like that!" Matthew says angrily, standing in front of Katie.

"Ah, the baby defiler speaks!" Derek says walking up to Matthew. "I am only pointing out what I see and it disgusts me!" Derek says angrily.

"Baby defiler?" Mark asks, confused.

"Yeah, you're little prick of a son got my daughter pregnant when she was only sixteen, she had a miscarriage and he went and did it again! After I told him to stay away from her!" Derek spat. "She just continues to act like this, now she's in trouble again and she thinks that mommy and daddy are just going to pick up the pieces."

"You don't speak to her like that, you have no right. She is a wonderful woman and I love her. I will not let you speak to her like that!" Matthew yells at Derek, standing in front of Katie.

Katie pushes around Matthew. "I can handle this myself." She says angrily. "You, you don't get to call me a whore, do you hear me? YOU got MY mother pregnant, my innocent, unwed mother pregnant. If you call me a whore, you are calling HER a whore too! My mother is courageous, my mother is strong. You, Derek Shepherd, are a coward! My mother thought that she found the man that she was going to spend the rest of her life with. You left us. You chose to leave us! I was perfectly fine without a father then and I will be perfectly fine without a father now. Right now you're not my father, you're just my mother's husband, and I feel sorry for her."

Derek lunges forward, Mark grabs him, Matthew blocks Katie. "Derek, don't touch her. She's pregnant." He turns to Katie. "Katherine, stop."

"NO! I am talking to him, and he is going to hear what I have to say." Katie says, pushing Matt away. "You left my mother alone for five long years to raise me. You are going to have to wait a hell of a lot longer to see my child. I hope to hell that his baby is not a boy, because looking at you three makes me realize how shallow the male role model pool is." Katherine screams on top of her lungs as she walks towards the door. Mark continues to hold Derek back as his face grows redder in anger, his eyes have turned an indigo blue.

"And as for my mommy and daddy picking up the pieces, I don't need to follow in your footsteps to be a great surgeon, I have my mother, I have my grandmother's tapes and I have my talent to get me through. I don't need your name, I have one that is more powerful than yours will ever be. From now on, I am Dr. Katherine Grey to you and my transfer papers will be on your desk in the morning…. CHIEF!" Katie spat as she swung the door open and stalked out, throwing dirty looks at everyone that stared at her.

-----------------------

Mark continued to hold Derek back from chasing her, his face still flushed with an intense anger, his eyes remained an intense dark blue. Matthew just watched her walk out the door and looked back at Mark and Derek standing there staring at the door. He looked back to the door and rushed towards it. "You'll have my transfer papers on your desk in the morning too." He says as he runs after Katie, slamming the door behind him.

Mark yanks Derek to look at him. "What the hell were you thinking? You don't call your daughter a whore!" Mark yelled at Derek, letting him go.

"Then she needs to stop acting like one!" Derek says, stalking towards the door. Mark stands in front of it.

"You will not go after her, you will not talk to her. You will leave her alone until you are calmer, if she'll even talk to you." Mark says.

"Shut the hell up!"

"Derek! She is an adult, she's not five-years old anymore. You really fucked up this time!" Mark says, lowering his voice.

"Did you hear the things that she said to me?" Derek says angrily.

"Did you hear the things that you said to her?" Mark argued back. "Meredith is going to kill you, and your daughter may never speak to you again."

"I don't care what Meredith thinks! Katherine is no longer my daughter. She is an embarrassment!" Derek yells as he tries to get around Mark.

"Stop it, Derek. You're saying things you may regret later."

"The only thing I'm regretting right now, is giving that little girl everything she could ever want, I have to get back to work." Derek says as he pushes past Mark and walks quickly down the hallway, back to his patient's room.

-----------------------

Matthew caught up with Katie in the hallway as she slammed open the locker room door and began grabbing her belongings from her locker. 

"Katie, what are you doing?" Matt asked her.

"I'm leaving, moron. Am I not being obvious enough for you?" Katie says as she pushes her clothes from her locker into her bag. She looks up at Matt angrily. "What is with you? Stop following me around like a goddamned puppy, alright? You made your position on this situation loud and clear, I don't need you."

"Yes you do, you need someone." Matt argued.

"Listen to me Matthew Sloan." Katie says, poking her finger hard into his chest. "I don't need him, and I don't need you. I don't need anyone! I don't need money, I have my inheritance from my grandmother; I can find a new place to live, and I am going to transfer to Mercy West and I can be with Cris and Izzie, so I don't need a job. I can raise this child alone, just like my mother did. I don't need anyone, and I CERTAINLY don't need YOU!" She said angrily as she swung her bag onto her shoulder and walked briskly towards the door.

"Katie, you have to listen to me!" Matt said, following her out the door. 

"I don't have to listen to anyone. Leave me alone, don't try to talk to me, don't try to follow me. Just leave me alone forever!" Katie whispered angrily as she swung around and nearly ran into her mother.

"Katherine! Are you alright?" Meredith says, seeing her daughter's red face and angry blue eyes, and the concern in Matthew's eyes.

"I'm fine. If you want to know what's going on, you can go talk to Derek!" She said loudly as she pushed past her mother and ran angrily down the hall, leaving Matthew standing with a very confused Meredith.

-----------------------

Suddenly, Derek comes stalking angrily down the hallway from the opposite direction, he shoves past Meredith and Matt not realizing who he was shoving past and just continues on to his patient's room.

"Will someone please tell me what is going on here?" Meredith says to no one in particular. Matthew just stands beside her guiltily, not knowing what to do next.

Mark comes quickly after Derek and takes Meredith's hand as he leads her away. "We have to talk, now!"

"Mark! What are you doing here?" Meredith says as she is lightly pulled down the hallway, leaving Matthew standing alone, watching them turn a corner.

-----------------------

Mark pulled Meredith into an unoccupied room. "Meredith, you are seriously going to have to sit down for this." He says calmly as he pulls out a chair for her.

"Mark, you are scaring the crap out of me." Meredith said nervously as she sat down.

"Ok, I'm going to tell you something but you have to promise that you won't react until I am done."

"Are you going to tell me why my daughter called her father by his first name and why my husband is so livid that he didn't see me standing in front of him?"

"Exactly. Now just listen." Mark says as he calmly begins to tell the story, blow by painful blow what happened in the exam room. Meredith kept her cool the entire time. When Mark ended the story, Meredith's face was totally expressionless.

She looked up at Mark blankly, her face pale white. "I am going to kill him. I am going to absolutely kill him." Meredith said as she stood up and slowly walked out of the room.

-----------------------

7am-

Derek proceeded with his day and tried to forget the stinging words that Katherine had thrown at him that morning. He prepared himself for surgery and walked into the OR. He began the procedure, just listening to the music that he had chosen for the surgery and worked diligently on the patient. He was not distracted, but at some point during the surgery, he could feel eyes on him. He knew that the gallery above was probably full of interns, so he just shook the feeling off and continued.

At some point, he couldn't resist it anymore. He looked up at the gallery and his eyes locked with Meredith's. They were cold, angry, and unforgiving. Derek shivered as a chill ran down his spine.

"Dr. Shepherd?" The scrub nurse said, breaking the stare. He looked over at the scrub nurse for a moment and picked up another tool. He looked up again and Meredith was gone.

She had certainly gotten her point across.

-----------------------

Meredith canceled the rest of her surgeries for the day, she couldn't concentrate after what Mark had told her. She stood outside of the scrub room waiting for Derek's surgery to be completed. As soon as he stepped out of the scrub room, she grabbed the lapel of his jacket and pushed him hard against the wall next to the door. She stared into his eyes deeply, her eyes turning an angry emerald green as his eyes softened in fear.

"You know." He said, in a half whimper.

"Damn straight I know." She said, pushing him harder against the wall. People begin to stare.

"Meredith, there are people around." Derek whispered to her.

"It doesn't matter, does it? Do you think it really matters? I don't think they really care whether I do this right here in the hallway or in a closed exam room, they are still going to hear it."

"Meredith." Derek said in warning.

"Don't you DARE take that tone with me, Derek Shepherd." She said as she stared into his eyes, throwing as much anger into her eyes as she could muster up. No words were needed for her to express how she was feeling at that moment. She held his lapels tightly in her grip until she could see in his eyes that he was completely defeated.

"You will not go near her again, do you understand that. You have lost the right to talk to her. You are damn lucky that I don't leave you. I don't want to hear your reasons or your excuses. You are not to talk to her." Meredith growled angrily. "Are we clear?"

Derek nodded his head. Meredith let go of his lapels and stepped back. "I'm going home." She said, throwing a glare at him as she turned and walked away. Derek fixed his lab coat and watched her stomp angrily down the hallway.

-----------------------

7pm-

Derek spent the rest of the day in and out of patient's rooms, he had one more surgery and then he walked back to his office. His mind was reeling from all that had occurred that day. He had heard that Katherine had come back to the hospital after the incident, but he was unsure of whether or not she had stayed. He was still very angry at her for the things that she had said, and was furthermore embarrassed at the way she had acted.

He walked into his office and his heart dropped. His secretary handed him two envelopes. One contained the transfer request for Matthew Sloan and the other was the transfer request for Katherine Grey. Derek's heart broke when he read the name on the request.

"Hold all my calls and please cancel my surgeries for today." Derek says sadly to the secretary as he walks into his office. He thinks of Meredith being at home and how angry she is at him. He turns around. "On the other hand, keep the surgeries I have, and see if anyone else needs assistance." Derek says as he turns and walks into his office and closes the door behind him.

-----------------------

7pm- Meredith's car, outside Katie's house.

Meredith dialed her daughter's cell phone for the fiftieth time and left a message. "Where are you Katherine, you're making me very nervous. Call me back please." Meredith said. Her hands were shaking in anticipation for her daughter's call. She sat with her car running outside her old place, waiting for Katherine to show up. She hoped that her roommates didn't think that she was stalking them or something. Meredith put her phone next to her on the seat and just waited. Five minutes later, her phone began to ring.

"Hello?"

"Hi." Came Katherine's response.

"Baby, are you alright? Where are you?" Meredith asked her sympathetically.

"Mama. I am scared." Katie cried into the phone.

"Where are you Katie-bug, I'll come right there." Meredith said urgently.

-----------------------

Nicky's Diner- 9pm

Meredith pulls up to the diner and spots her daughter's car right away. She parks and gets out of her car and watches as Katie gets out of hers. She runs to her daughter and pulls her into a big hug. Katie begins to sob uncontrollably in her mother's embrace.

"Shh… It's alright sweetheart, mommy's here." Meredith said, running her fingers through her daughter's hair, kissing her cheeks. "It's ok baby." Meredith whispers as she tries to quell the heartbreaking sobs that are coming from her daughter.

Katie cried into her mother's shoulder for a while, wiping her tears on her jacket, letting all of her pain out. Meredith held her tightly, not letting go until Katie was ready. Her sobs eventually softened as she loosened her grip on Meredith. She looked into her mother's eyes, "Let's go get some cheesecake and talk." Katie said softly as her mother put her arm around her shoulder and they walked into the diner together.

They sat down and ordered their cheesecake. They sat in a comfortable silence while waiting for it to be brought to the table. Meredith watched Katherine as she fidgeted with the claddaugh ring on her finger as the waitress brought them their cheesecake. "Baby, do you want to talk about it?" Meredith whispered, reaching across the table to hold her daughter's hand and stop her from fidgeting.

"You're disappointed in me." Katie whispered, glancing up at her mother.

"I am not disappointed in you. I love you." Meredith said sincerely, squeezing Katie's hand.

"Daddy hates me." Katie said angrily.

"He doesn't hate you." Meredith corrected her.

"He said things to me that I don't think can be forgiven mom." Katie says, looking in her mother's eyes.

"I know. I am very angry with him too. He has no right to say those things."

"He's a hypocrite! He loves you unconditionally, even though you're what he calls a whore, but he condemns me for it. Does that mean he condemns you for things that you have done?"

"Sweetheart, he loves you. He just expected more from you." Meredith tried to reason.

"So you're saying I'm a whore too?" Katie said, beginning to become defensive.

"No, sweetheart. The point is, your father should have never said those things. You have to be the judge of when he has earned your forgiveness. Those things he said were hurtful and wrong. I want you to follow your heart and do what you think is right. If you feel like you need some space, then I can make sure you get that transfer to Mercy West, and you can have your space. You do what you need to in order to be happy. I love you and I will always be at the other end of the telephone line if you need me to come to you."

"So you think I did what I should have done?"

"Don't ever tell your daddy this, but yes. I think you did the right thing by telling him the way you feel. He needs to hear it, no matter how it hurts his heart, he needs to know how much he hurt yours. You are a big girl. You're going to be a mommy soon." Meredith began to tear up when she said that last part, she squeezed her daughter's hands and looked her deep in the eyes.

"Don't take your anger out on Matthew, Katherine. He is just as scared as you are right now and right now you need one another. Mark told me that Matty hadn't called you back after you told him. You need to talk to him and ask him why. He loves you so much; I think that he is afraid that he hurt you beyond repair. He is afraid that you won't want him to be there for you. You can't keep pushing him away sweetheart, this is a team effort." Meredith explained.

"But you did it all on your own." Katie counters.

"No, I didn't. I couldn't have done it without George or Izzie. I never would have gotten anywhere as a surgeon if I didn't have them to help me watch you, feed you, and take care of you. It was a team effort. They were my support group. You have me, but you're going to need Matt. Your child is going to need its daddy there." Meredith said, trying to smile, though her eyes are filling with tears.

"What if he doesn't want to be there for me?" Katie says, in a small voice.

"He does. He just doesn't want to be pushed away anymore. He doesn't want to get close and then have you push him away. You have to stop sending him mixed signals." Meredith explained. Meredith's pager suddenly goes off. "Crap. I can't even have a decent piece of cheesecake with my daughter without having some bonehead getting injured." Meredith exclaimed.

Katie laughed at her mother's reaction.

"A smile, that's what I like to see. I have to get going sweetheart, will you be alright alone?" Meredith says standing up.

"She doesn't have to be alone." A voice says from the booth behind them.

Both women turn and look, Matthew stands up and holds his hand out to help Meredith from her seat. "I'll stay with her." Matt said softly, looking over at Katie, his eyes filled with love. "If she wants me to stay."

Katie looked up at her mother and over at Matt. "I'd like that." She says with a smile, holding her hand out. "I would really like that a lot." Matt takes her hand and kisses it as he slides into the booth where Meredith had been sitting.

"You two behave yourselves. I'll call you tomorrow to see how you are. Drink plenty of water and make sure you are eating!" Meredith says to Katie.

"Don't worry, Dr. Shepherd, I'll take good care of her. I promise." Matt said softly, not taking his eyes off of Katie.

"Good. I love you." Meredith said, bending down and giving Katie a kiss on the cheek.

"Goodnight, Mom. Thanks." Katie said softly.

"I would do anything for you, sweetheart." Meredith said, and turned to leave the restaurant.

-----------------------

Katherine watched her mother leave out the restaurant door and sat there as she watched her get into her car and drive off to the ferry to get to the hospital. She wiped the stray tear that had fallen down her cheek and turned her face to Matthew. She put her elbows on the table and her face in her hands.

"Why do you stalk me?" She asked, with a sly grin.

"Hey, I was here first." Matt countered, reaching his hand across the table, hoping that she would grasp it in her own. "Why are you stalking me?"

"Because I love you." Katie said simply, reaching her hand across the table to hold his. "I am scared." She said, tears beginning to well up in her eyes once again.

"I know you're scared, and your father didn't make things easier." Matt replied.

"I think I might hate him." Katie sighed.

"You don't hate him." Matt replied.

"I do. I really hate him right now. I didn't want to tell my mother that I feel this way, it would break her heart. Besides, she tells him everything, it would break his heart too."

"See that, there is your proof."

"Proof?" 

"That you don't really hate him. If you hated him, you wouldn't care if you broke his heart." Matt replied, squeezing her hand.

"I hate you." Katie said with a smile.

"Cut that out. I don't ever want to hear that phrase out of your mouth again." Matt said, kissing her fingers. "Let's go home." He said, sliding out of the booth.

"Home?" Katie asked.

"You'll see what I mean." He said with a sly grin. "Let's go."

-----------------------

10:30 pm

Meredith pulled up to the hospital and parked. Her pager had gone off three more times on the way there. She jumped out of the car and ran into the hospital. She got into the elevator, and turned around and faced the doors when she saw Derek standing in the elevator.

"It took you long enough." He said with a slight smile.

Meredith was not amused. "You've been sitting in this elevator since I was paged?"

"Standing…standing in the elevator."

"You're not amusing." Meredith says as she pushes the button to the surgery floor.

"I am very amusing."

"Stop trying to be charming, its not going to work." Meredith said, crossing her arms, staring at the doors.

They stood in silence as the elevator moved upstairs. The elevator doors open on the surgery floor, Derek steps forward, as Meredith steps out. "How is she?" He asks softly.

"What do you care? I have surgery." Meredith says coldly as she walks down the hallway, not glancing back.

"I'll see you at home." Derek called after her, annoyed when she didn't respond.

----------------

Meredith walked into the scrub room very irritated that he had waited for her. "Who the hell does he think he is?" Meredith mumbled to herself as she scrubbed in for surgery. She took a deep breath as she entered the OR, and suddenly all of the problems of the day seemed to disappear.

Halfway through the surgery, she glanced up at the gallery. The light in the gallery was off, and suddenly, she felt very alone.

-----------------------

Derek sat in the darkened gallery, looking down at his wife. He knew that she couldn't see him in there, between the darkened room and the glare on the window. He noticed her looking up at one point and there was a sad, disappointment in her eyes. He listened to her voice over the intercom system and noticed that her voice had gotten a little shaky after looking up. She went back to the surgery and Derek got up and left the gallery, slowly making his way down to his office for the night.

-----------------------

Matt and Katie walked out of the diner, hands entwined and Matthew turned to Katie. "Follow me." He said softly.

"Where are we going?" Katie asked as he opened her car door for her.

"We're going home, silly." He said as he planted a kiss on her cheek. "Just trust me and follow me." She smiled and got into her car as he carefully closed her door and went to his own car.

Matthew and Katie got into their separate cars and drove to the ferry. They rode the ferry to the dock and Katie followed him through town. They drove through several back streets and eventually ended up at an older house surrounded by trees. Matthew pulled up the driveway and Katie followed. Matthew got out of his car and opened Katie's door for her.

"Where are we?" She whispered, looking at the old home, knowing that it looks familiar for some reason.

"You don't recognize it?" Matt says, as he takes her hand and helps her out of the car.

"No, but it looks familiar." Katie said, taking Matt's hand.

"I'll give you a hint. See that railing on the stairs? When you were six years old, you decided to try to slide down it and you got splinters in your butt!"

"Ow… I remember! Your parents still own the house?" Katie said, running her fingers along the railing.

"No. I own this house. My father signed over the deed this afternoon. I have been staying here since I got back." Matt says as he looks up at the house. He pauses and sits down on the front porch, looking out at the trees. Katie moves and sits next to him. She lightly puts her head on his shoulder and looks out into the darkness.

"Well?" She says, breaking the comfortable silence.

"Well what?" Matt says.

"Aren't you going to ask me?" Katie says, lifting her head up, looking at him.

"Oh… of course." He says, being pulled out of his daydream. He stands up and steps down to the ground. He reaches into his pocket and pulls out a ring box. Katie's jaw drops as he bends down on one knee.

"Katherine Elisabeth, you are the most beautiful woman that I have ever known. You make every day on this earth worth living. Please don't think that I am asking you this because of the recent developments, I have had this ring in my possession for a very long time. I love you very much. I love our child very much, and I can think of nothing more important than for us to be together for that child. More importantly, I can think of nothing more important than us to be together for one another. You are my princess, you are my angel, and you have always been my best friend. I want to be able to complete that circle, and make you my wife. Will you Marry me?" He asked, ending his speech with a deep breath.

"I thought you were going to ask me to move in with you." Katie smiled.

"That too." He laughed. "But aren't you going to answer my first question?" He asks with a brilliant smile, still on one knee. 

-----------------------

Derek sat in his office, the desk lamp the only light in the room as he sat and looked at the two transfer requests on his desk. He takes a deep breath and sighs as he leans back in the chair, tapping a pen on his lips. The decision weighed heavily on his mind as he thought to the argument earlier. He lifted the first document up and leaned back again in his chair as he read name on document. 'Matthew Derek Sloan'. He sighed in resignation as he set the paper down on his desk. **TRANSFER DENIED**. He wrote in large letters across the top of the paper, adding his signature at the bottom.

He picked up the second request and read through the application. Her handwriting was as fluid and readable as her mother's. He winced at the name at the top of the page. 'Katherine Elisabeth Grey-Shepherd'. She never used her hyphenated name, Derek thought. But then he thought back to the argument earlier and all of the hateful, hurtful things that she had said. He started to become angrier as he looked at the paper. The resentment of him not being around when she was born was clear and strong. He knew that she was aware that he didn't know about her, but she was angrier that he wasn't there for her mother, no matter the circumstances of her being pregnant or not. She was hurting, and he was hurting.

"Its for the best." He whispered to himself.

**TRANSFER ACCEPTED** he scrawled across the page, signing his name at the bottom. 

-----------------------

"I thought you were going to ask me to move in with you." Katie smiled.

"That too." He laughed. "But aren't you going to answer my first question?" He asks with a brilliant smile, still on one knee.

"Yes." Katie giggled.

"Wait… yes you'll answer my question, or yes you'll marry me?" Matt smiled.

"Just Yes. Shut up and kiss me." Katie said, grabbing the collar of his shirt, pulling his lips to hers. She kissed him deeply as he ran his fingers through her hair, cupping her face in his hand. She reached up and put her hands on his cheeks, gently pulling him away. "Yes Matthew, I'll marry you." She whispered as she kissed him once again. She grabs his hand and stands up; he stands up behind her as she pulls him across the grass on the front lawn.

"Hey, aren't you going to take this?" He asks, holding the ring to her.

"Yes." She says. She stops and turns around, letting go of his hand. He carefully takes the ring from the box and slips it onto her finger. She then grabs his hand again and starts to pull him across the lawn once again.

"Where are we going?" He laughs.

"Right here." She says as she stops and sits down on the grass. She lies down with her back on the grass and looks up at the stars. "Are you going to lie down or what? You're blocking my view." She laughs.

Matthew sits down next to her and lies down. "Why are we out here?" He asked her as she touched his hand with hers.

"We're looking at the stars. I haven't looked at the stars in a long time." She said as she grasped his hand.

"Katie, it's cloudy." Matt said as he looks up in the sky.

"No it isn't. I can see a million stars." She said softly.

Matthew sat up a little and looked at her. Her eyes were closed as she lay there with a satisfied smile on her face. Matthew smiled at the beautiful woman next to him. He put his arm under her head and she snuggled to his chest as he closed his eyes, and they just looked at the stars together.

-----------------------

2am.

"Katie." Matthew whispers. "Katie, my arm fell asleep." Matt says, attempting to pull his arm out from under her head.

"Mmm…. Well I fell asleep." She says, moving onto her side, snuggling deeper into his chest.

"Katie, we should get inside. We have work in a couple of hours." Matt said to her as he ran his fingers through her hair.

"I'm not going to work anymore. I don't work there. I transferred." She mumbled into his chest.

"We put in the paperwork, but we don't know if it was accepted or not." Matt said , dropping a kiss on her head.

"Oh, he signed the papers already. He'll get rid of us as quickly as possible." Katie said with a tinge of sadness in her voice.

"Well then… I have to go to work in a couple of hours. I will check on the papers and come home. How does that sound?"

"We can spend the afternoon together?"

"Yes. We can spend the afternoon together." He said, giving her a kiss on her forehead. "Now let's get inside before we start growing roots out here." He laughed as he started to get up.

-----------------------

5am- 

The alarm went off and Matthew rolled over to an empty bed. At first he thought that he had imagined the whole evening, and then he rolled over onto the pillow next to him and knew that it wasn't a dream. He inhaled her scent on the pillow next to him and smiled as he snuggled deeper into the blankets. After a couple of minutes he heard the toilet flush. He rolled over and watched the bathroom door and it opened slowly to reveal her small form, hunched over and pale.

"Are you alright sweetheart?" Matt asked softly, reaching out for her hand.

"I'll be fine. You have to get up. You have to go to work, and I'm going to get ready for our afternoon together." She said, trying to brighten up a little.

"That sounds like a plan." Matt says as he sits up and kisses her hand.

-----------------------

6am- Outside Chief Shepherd's Office

"Excuse me, is Doctor Shepherd in?" Matthew asked Derek's secretary.

"He's in his office right now. What can I do for you?" She replies.

"I put in an application for transfer yesterday, as did my fiancé and I'd like to check the status on them please." Matthew replied.

"Name please?"

"Matthew Sloan."

The secretary shifts through several papers on her desk and pulls out the transfer notes. She hands one to Matthew

"Matthew Sloan, transfer denied." She says as he takes the paper from her hands. "Katherine Grey-Shepherd, transfer accepted. I'm sorry." She says quietly.

"Transfer denied?" Matthew said incredulously.

"Yes, Matthew. Transfer Denied." Derek said from behind him.

Matt swung around. "Why? Why can't I go?" Matthew asked, obviously upset.

"Because I think that we would all benefit from you staying at Seattle Grace." Derek said, with a tinge of anger in his voice.

"But…"

"No 'but'… your transfer was denied, I suggest you find your resident immediately and begin rounds." Derek said as he turned and walked back into his office, slamming the door.

-----------------------

"Katie. I'm sorry… did I wake you up? I'm sorry. I love you sweetheart. I have bad news, my transfer was denied. No, yours was accepted. Yes, seriously. No… Katie, no. Do not come down here Katie. Just sleep in a little while and I'll see you when I get home. I know… I know we were going to spend the afternoon together. It's alright… No… Katie, don't come down here. Its not a good idea. Katie? Katie?" Matthew hangs up the phone. "Crap."

-----------------------

6:30am.

::knock, knock::

"Come in." Meredith says, looking down at the papers on her desk.

"Uh… Dr. Shepherd?" Matt says quietly.

Meredith looks up. "Matt? What do you need? Is Katherine alright?"

"Uh… she's fine… "

"Matt, what's wrong."

"Katie's fine, but Derek isn't going to be when she gets here." Matt says quietly.

"What? Why? What happened?" Meredith says standing up.

"Derek transferred Katie, but denied my request for transfer. I called her and she said she was coming down to have a 'face to face' talk with him.' Matt says nervously.

"Not if I get to his face first." Meredith says angrily as she quickly pushes past Matt and down the hallway towards Derek's office.

-----------------------

Matt stands in the doorway of Meredith's office as she quickly makes her way down to Derek's office. He flinched when he heard his office door slam.

"Dr. Shepherd, you can't go in there, he said he doesn't want to be disturbed." Derek's secretary says as Meredith slams open the outer office door.

"The hell he won't be 'disturbed'!" Meredith yells as she slams the door closed.

"What's going on out here?" Derek says, opening his office door.

"What's going on? What's going on? I'll tell you WHAT'S GOING ON!" Meredith yells, her voice getting louder and louder with each word.

"Meredith, calm down." Derek says

"I will NOT calm down." Meredith says, pushing him into his office, slamming the door behind them

"What? What did I do?"

"What did you do? Stop playing dumb with me. I swear to GOD Derek, you think that you are so much better than everyone else. I thought you wanted her to be happy! She DESERVES to be happy, and you're fucking with her mind again. I can't stand it anymore! Why can't you let them be happy?"

"I have my reasons." Derek said, indignantly.

"GodDAMN it Derek!" Meredith says, slamming her fist on the desk. "You are so damn lucky that 'I' am not giving you a transfer request!"

"You can't leave. I won't let you." Derek said angrily.

"That's right. I can't leave this hospital, because YOU are the boss. But I can leave our marriage, and that is because 'I' am the boss there. And I QUIT!" Meredith says as she turns around and swings the door open to leave, practically running into Katie. She grabs her daughter's hand and pulls her out of the office with her, glaring back at Derek. "Let's go sweetheart, Derek has a few things to think about." She spat as she and Katie walked down the hallway together.

-----------------------

Meredith leads Katie away from the office while holding her hand.

"Mom, where are we going?" Katie says, confused. "Did you just yell at dad? Mom?" Katie says as Meredith continues walking with her down the hallway.

"Katherine. Please tell me that's what I think that is on your hand." Meredith says, squeezing her hand a little bit as she leads her into her office.

"What? Oh! MOM! He proposed!" Katie said excitedly as she showed off the ring to her mother.

"Congratulations sweetheart!" Meredith says, admiring the ring and giving her daughter a hug. "I am so excited for you!"

"I know mom. It was both the worst and the best day of my life." Katie says, hugging her mother tightly, tears threatening to fall.

"I know mom. It was both the worst and the best day of my life." Katie says, hugging her mother tightly, tears threatening to fall.

"I know…" Meredith said, hugging her back. "Hey." She says, pulling away and looking into her eyes. Katie can see the tears beginning to fall in her mother's eyes. "You call over to Mercy West and get those transfer documents all through; you probably won't have to work for another week, so you'll have some free time. I have surgery in about an hour, why don't you hop up into the gallery and watch? We can have lunch together after, how does that sound?"

"That sounds great mom." Katie said, trying her best to smile. "I'll go make the phone calls."

-----------------------

An hour and a half later, Meredith is in surgery and looks up in the gallery to see Katie looking down smiling, enjoying every minute of the surgery. Meredith smiles under her mask and continues the surgery, happy that her daughter is a little happier once again. 

Halfway through the surgery, Meredith hears a commotion. She looks up in the gallery and Katie is standing, yelling angrily at Derek, who was standing there pointing at the door, screaming back. Meredith rolled her eyes as she watches Derek try to escort her out of the room while yelling at her, and she is fighting back.

"Please turn the intercom on up there." Meredith asks one of the nurses, who does as she is asked.

"Doctor Shepherd." Meredith says loudly, continuing what she is doing on the operating table. She hears the commotion stop and looks up. He's looking down at her angrily. "Leave her alone. She is here for educational purposes, she can stay." Meredith says. Derek stares down at her, and she stares up at him. "Now if you don't mind, I'm trying to do something here." Meredith said, frustrated by the way he's acting. She watches as he stomps out of the gallery. Katie looks down and throws her mother a grateful smile. Meredith smiles with her eyes and continues with the surgery.

-----------------------

12am-

Matthew enters the dark house quietly and sees the blue glow of the television in the living room. He sets his bag down by the stairs and sneaks a peek around the corner. Katie is snuggled tightly on the couch, clutching one of his t-shirts. He walked over to her and gently lifted her from her snuggly nest.

"Mmm…" She says as she smiles a little and cuddles her head against his chest. "Its bedtime already, you just got home." She said sleepily.

"Yeah, bedtime already, my little girl." He said, dropping a kiss on her head as he carried her up the stairs.

"I don't wanna go to bed." She said as he set her on the bed and pulled the blankets up on her.

"Yes you do. Sleepy girl." He said softly as he changed and slipped into bed next to her. "How are you feeling?" He asked as he pulled her close to him, her head resting on his chest.

"Better, now that you're here." She said as she snuggled deeper into the blankets.

"Katie?"

"Yeah?"

"I've been thinking."

"Yeah?"

"About getting married."

"Yeah?"

"You want to do it right?"

"Yeah."

"Let's do it next week, Justice of the peace."

"Yeah."

Matt pauses and moves so that he can see her face. Her eyes are closed and she is obviously mostly asleep. "I love you."

"Yeah."

"Can we get a pet snake?"

"No."

Matt laughs as she giggles into his chest and they drift off to a peaceful sleep.

-----------------------

The next morning- Elevator  
9am-

Meredith runs into the elevator and turns around, rolling her eyes as Derek is the only other one in there, the doors close as she faces them and ignores him.

"You didn't come home last night."

"Nope."

"Are you coming home tonight?"

"Nope."

"Hey. I'm sorry." Derek says sadly as the elevator doors open.

Meredith turned around and glared at him as she stepped out. "Sorry isn't going to help you out of this, Derek." She growls as she stomps off the elevator and down the hallway.

"Elevators used to be such a happy place for me." Derek whispers to himself as the doors close.

-----------------------

Meredith spent the day in and out of surgeries, for the most part avoiding Derek. 'For the most part' meaning that she didn't run into him, but for every single one of her surgeries he was in the gallery, looking down at her, giving her the sad puppy eyes.

Meredith continually reminded herself that she had to be strong and stand by Katherine. The way that Derek had been acting was inexcusable, and besides, she was having a great time staying with Izzie. The evening before they spent laughing and talking about their internship and how rough it was for them, while Lillybeth found herself more than comfortable sitting in her 'Aunt Meri's' lap, telling her stories about school.

After scrubbing out of her last surgery, Meredith went upstairs. Derek was walking out of the gallery as she quickly approached him. "What is your problem?" She asked, angrily.

"No need to be hostile, Dr. Shepherd." Derek said, with a hint of a grin.

"Stop trying to be cute, I'm not in the mood for cute. Why do you keep watching me?" She asked him with a scowl.

"I'm not watching you."

"You have been up there for every surgery, I can't concentrate when you watch me like that!"

"You're a great surgeon, I like watching you work." Derek said, shifting a pen around in his pocket. "Are you sure you're not coming home tonight?"

"Absolutely positive."

"Hmm…"

"Why?"

"No reason. See you around, Dr. Shepherd." Derek says, giving her a kiss on the forehead. She pushes him away a little and glares at him.

Without saying another word, she turns and walks away from him.

-----------------------

7pm-

Katie watched out the window of the house, waiting for Matthew to show up. He had promised her that he was going to take her over to her place to pick up a few things. He didn't want her carrying things around. He pretty much didn't want her doing much of anything and that annoyed her.

She watched as he slowly pulled into the driveway and she ran out onto the porch to greet him. He parked the car and got out. "Hey, you're late." She said with a pout.

"I know… I know… I had to stop off and get something." Matt said as he moved closer to her.

She leaned in for a kiss. "What did you have to get?" She says, as she hugs him close.

"You'll find out." He smiled as he hugged her back. "Are you ready to go?"

"Yep." She said as he opened the door for her and she started to get inside. "What's this?" She asks, picking up the little box that is on the seat.

"That's what I had to pick up!" He says excitedly. "Don't open it just yet!" He says as he closes her door for her and runs around to his side. He sits down and takes the box from her for a moment. He looks at her and smiles. "Okay. This is a gift for you that I hope you'll find is special. It might be kind of cheesy, but I think you'll like it." He says with a bright smile. He gently hands the box over to her.

She opens the box carefully and pulls the tissue paper away from the gift. She gasps as she pulls out two tiny satin pink ballet slippers, tied together with a white silk bow. "What is this for?" Katie says, her eyes wide with surprise and her breath taken away by the gesture.

"They're for our little princess." Matthew said, indicating Katie's belly.

"And what do we do if it is a little prince?" Katie asked, curiously.

"Then we'll have to save them until we have a princess, won't we? But it's a princess. I know it is." Matthew says, leaning across to give her a kiss. Let's go get some of your things." He says softly as he pulls away and starts the car. Katie runs her fingers over the little ballet slippers and smiles to herself, glancing over at Matthew now and then.

-----------------------

They drove the wet streets of Seattle in silence. Katherine was admiring her gift, while Matthew continually thought of his sudden increase in responsibilities and wondered if he could really handle it, or if he was fooling himself. They turned the corner of her road and Katie looked up.

"Why can't he just leave me alone?" She muttered as the car pulled into the driveway, being sure not to block the extra car parked in it.

Matthew turned to Katie when they see the figure on the porch. "You stay here. I'll take care of it." He said to her as he got out of the car, slamming the door.

-----------------------

"What do you want?" Matt said angrily as he stepped out of the car.

"I need to talk to Katherine." Derek said calmly.

"She doesn't want to talk to you." Matthew replied.

"I need to talk to her now." Derek said, his voice sounding a little hurt.

Matthew looked into the car, Katie had her head down, fidgeting with her fingers nervously. "She doesn't want to talk to you, she just wants to go inside and get some things so that we can go home." Matt replied.

"This is her home." Derek said, beginning to get upset.

"No it isn't. She is living with me now, she doesn't need you anymore." Matt replied angrily.

Derek was speechless. The words that Matthew spoke broke his heart. "I just want to tell her that I'm sorry." Derek said sadly, taking a step towards the car.

Matthew blocks his view of Katie in the passenger seat. "She doesn't care. She doesn't want to talk to you, please leave now." Matthew said calmly, staring Derek down.

Derek stared back at Matthew and after a few minutes, he relented and took a step back. Matthew stepped forward and Katie opened her door and stepped out next to Matt. She reached out for his hand and closed the door behind her.

"If only sorry were enough, Derek." She said calmly and evenly, even though there were tears in her eyes. "If only sorry were enough." She turns and walks past her father into the house, leaving Derek and Matthew by the cars, watching as she entered the house and closed the door behind her. 

-----------------------

Derek hung his head in defeat. "She hates me so much." Derek whispered.

"Listen. She doesn't hate you." Matthew said, feeling guilty for how harsh Katie had spoken to him. "She just needs some time. She needs some time to think and some time on her own. Derek, I think I understand why you transferred one of us and not the other and I respect you for it. It was a tough decision and I hope that Katie soon understands it."

"Will you take good care of her?" Derek asked, looking up. Matthew can see the pain in his eyes.

"I'll take care of her like she is the most precious thing in the world." Matthew said softly.

"She is you know?" Derek responded, trying to feel a little lighter despite his heavy heart.

"I know." Matt replies, "I intend to treat her that way for the rest of her life." Matt says, giving Derek a pat on the shoulder. "Tell Meredith not to be so tough on you, you're not as tough as you seem." Matt says quietly.

"Thanks. I'll see you at work tomorrow. Tell her that I love her, please?" Derek asked.

"I'll tell her." Matt says as he climbs the steps of the porch. "Goodnight Derek." Matthew said, turning around. "Derek?" Matt said, waiting for him to turn around. Derek turned around slowly and Matthew could already see the tears in his eyes. "I know this isn't the best time to ask you this, but I wouldn't feel right if I didn't. May I have your blessing to marry your daughter?"

"You better marry her." Derek said with a smile. "Goodnight Matthew, I have to go find my wife." Derek said, turning back around towards the car.


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43-

11pm

"Izzie… thanks again for letting me stay with you guys for a little while. It feels like old times." Meredith said, holding a sleeping Lilybeth in her arms.

"Its not a problem at all, boys are stupid. I'm sure Derek is going to learn his lesson eventually. Besides, who else can get my daughter to sleep so quickly?" Izzie laughed.

"I miss having a little one to snuggle. Mine are all grown up brats now." Meredith said as she cuddled Lilybeth closer to her.

"I hate to say it Mer, but you'll be able to snuggle a little one very soon." Izzie said as she lifted Lilybeth from Meredith's embrace. 

"Oh, don't tell me that. I feel so old." Meredith says, following Izzie up to Lilybeth's bedroom.  
"Just think of it Mer, you can spoil that baby all you want and you just send it home with its mother and she can be driven crazy." Izzie said with a smile as she tucked Lilybeth into bed.

Suddenly, Meredith's pager goes off. "Crap. Just when we were starting to have some fun." Meredith complained. "Well, duty calls. I'll be back later." Meredith says as she turns and walked out of the room.

"See you later." Izzie said, watching her friend walk sadly down the stairs.

--------------------------

Meredith arrived at the hospital and ran in the front doors. She ran to the elevator and pushed the elevator button. She waited for the elevator to arrive and when it opened, she sighed disgustedly to see Derek standing there, leaning against the wall.

"What takes you so long to get here?" He asked with a McDreamy smile.

"Why do you live in an elevator?" She responded while walking in and turning around towards the doors, pushing the button for the surgical floor.

Derek steps forward to stand next to her. "My wife left me yesterday." Derek says softly.

"Hmm… I'm sure she had her reasons." Meredith says without looking at him.

"Yep, just up and left." Derek said playfully.

"Hmm… that's just too bad." Meredith says annoyed.

"You know what that means, don't you?" Derek said with a smile.

"No, what does that mean?" Meredith says, still not looking at him.

"It means that you and I can have that fling you've always wanted!" Derek says as he pushes the emergency stop button and grabs her wrists, pushing her against the wall of the elevator.

"I'm going to kill you." Meredith says, trying not to smile.

"Kill me with kisses!" He says as he starts to kiss her neck, making her giggle. He starts to kiss her passionately and he lets her wrists go. He runs his hands through her hair pulls her face harder against his, begging for more. Her hands run over his body as she takes in his kiss. She suddenly pulls away and stares into his eyes.

"I have to go. I'm sorry, I was paged." She said sweetly as she let go of him and turned, pressing the emergency stop button off. He was silent as she watched the elevator floors go by.

The doors open and she steps out, followed by Derek. She looks down at the room number on the pager and walks down the hallway. She stops in front of the room and looks at the pager, then she looks up at Derek. "Is this some kind of joke?" She asks as she compares the numbers again.

"What do you mean?" Derek asked, looking around her.

"It's an empty exam room. Why was I paged to an empty exam room?" Meredith said, beginning to get very irritated.

"Hmm… I dunno." Derek says, looking around the room. "Its been pretty quiet around here." He said, a smile lightly tugging at the corners of his mouth.

"There's a chart over here." Meredith says as she walked towards the bed. She picked up the chart and opened it. "This is interesting." Meredith says, reading through the chart.

"What does it say?" Derek leaned in.

"Patient: Derek Shepherd" Meredith says, she rolls her eyes and looks over at him. He's beaming.

"Go on."

"Symptoms: irritability, mean to his daughter, mean to his wife, sadness, irrational anger and stupidity, sudden lapses into apology, incredibly charming…. Derek, charming isn't a symptom."

"It's not?" He says, grabbing the chart from her and looking it over.

"No, give me that." She says as she grabs it back and continues to read it.

"Diagnosis: Patient is very sorry for being a big fat dolt. He promises to not only apologize to his wonderful daughter, but show her in as many ways as possible how much he loves her, and how sorry he is. As for his wife, he promises that he'll grovel on his hands and knees until she forgives him and makes the spot next to him on his bed warm once again. As for the irritability, he can only do so much." Meredith reads, laughing at the last part.

"Treatment: Lots of love and care and groveling to his wife and daughter. Maybe his wife will give him a little bit of make up sex just for the fun of it and move back in with him." Meredith seriously looks over the chart and looks up at him with a concerned glance.

"What? Is there something wrong?" He says, leaning next to her, looking at the chart.

"Yeah… there is no treatment for the 'incredibly charming'. I think that we need to get a cure for that." Meredith says, glancing over the chart.

"Funny." Derek says, grabbing the chart from her, tossing it on the bed. "I think we should talk." He says, taking her hand.

"Derek Shepherd wants to talk? Let me see that chart again, I have another symptom to write down…" She laughs. 

"Not funny…" He says with a smile as he leads her over to the chair in the room. "I talk, you listen." He says quietly. "Please?" Meredith sits down and Derek kneels in front of her.

"I believe you said 'hands and knees'" Meredith smiled, cupping his face in her hands. Derek gives her a serious glance and her smile disappears. "Sorry. You talk, I listen."

"It's alright." Derek smiles, he reaches up and takes her hands in his. "Meredith, you know that I love you, right?"

"There has never been a doubt in my mind." She says, giving his hands a squeeze.

"I do love you, and I love Katie and Jacks. I just want to apologize for being less than reasonable for the past few days. I said some really inappropriate things to our daughter, and I have a lot of making up to do. I know that. I owe both of you an apology. I am a hypocrite, and an angry, scared man that doesn't like change. I make no excuses for the way I acted and reacted and I would like to apologize to you, please come home and be with me?" He gently takes one of her hands and brings it to his lips. "I'm sorry." He says, kissing her hand lightly. "I'm sorry." He says, kissing her wrist. "I'm sorry" He says, kissing her forearm, cradling her elbow in his other hand. "I'm…"

"Ok… I get the point…" Meredith says with a giggle as she pulls her arm back.

"Hey, I'm not done apologizing…" Derek says, reaching for her hand again.

Meredith stands up and starts for the door. She turns around and Derek is standing up. "And I'm not done being apologized to." She smiles as she turns down the hallway towards his office, Derek follows quickly behind her.

Meredith stands outside of Derek's office as he jogs up behind her and quickly unlocks the door. He looks both ways down the hallway and slips inside, he grabs Meredith's hand and pulls her inside.

Meredith laughs as he closes the door and locks it. "Why are we sneaking?"

"You don't like sneaking?"

"We don't have to sneak, we're married." Meredith giggled.

"Oh…There you go, ruining all of my fun." Derek laughed. "Come here you, let me show you how sorry I am." Derek says as he opens the door to his personal office and pulls her inside, closes the door and locks it.

"Oh! Double locks… we're going to be loud!" Meredith laughed as he lifted her up and gently lay her down on the couch in his office.

"I don't want anyone to think we need help." Derek says as he lay on top of her, straddling her body.

"Less talk, more kiss." She said as she grabbed the collar of his shirt and pushed his full weight onto her body, smashing their lips together in a passionate kiss. She runs her hands through his hair and moans excitedly when he slips his hands up her shirt.

"Hmm… someone likes that." Derek says as he runs his finger along the bottom part of her bra, hearing her sigh, he lets out a little laugh.

"You're still talking!" She groans as she wraps her legs around his waist and rolls, pushing them to the floor in a tangle. She ends up on top, straddling his body as he lands with a light thud.

"Sorry." He sighs as she unbuttons the top button of his shirt.

"For what?" She asks, putting her finger on the next button.

"For talking." He whispers.

She unbuttons the next button. "And?"

"Being an ass." He says softly.

She unbuttons the next button. "And?"

"Hurting you and Katie." He says softly.

She unbuttons the next button. "And?"

"That's it." He says with a smile. She starts to button the last button. "Oh! I'm sorry for not apologizing earlier."

She unbuttons the last button of his shirt and pulls the shirt from his chest. She puts her hand on his belt. "And?" She whispers, leaning down into his ear.

"Um…I'm sorry for letting you get away with trying to leave me." He says as he rolls on top of her, straddling her body as she struggles with his belt.

"Well done!" Meredith says with a laugh as he nuzzles her neck.

"Oh! We're not done yet!" He laughs as he moves his lips to hers and takes her breath away with his kiss.

--------------------------

12 am.

Matthew sits on the couch in the living room, the television is on with the volume down low. Katie had gone to bed an hour earlier, but he just couldn't get comfortable, so he decided to get a drink of water. He sat, sipping his glass of water thinking about all of the events of the week and watched the television without even really paying attention. Something caught the corner of his eye as he sat there, staring off into space. Looking, he saw Katie's cedar chest, the one that they had brought here together earlier in the evening.

He stood up and walked over to it. He didn't dare open it, knowing that Katie always kept her most valuable possessions inside, he didn't feel comfortable intruding. Although, he didn't open it, he did admire the craftsmanship of the chest. She was very proud of it because it was a gift from her Nana and Papa Shepherd. Her grandfather had built it for her for her sixteenth birthday and he had taken a great deal of care in the carvings on the box. Matthew ran his fingers lightly over the carvings, taking in the sweet smell of the cedar.

"It's really beautiful, isn't it?" Katie says from behind him, making him jump a little. "Sorry." She says, when she sees him startle.

"It's ok. I thought you were sleeping." He smiled as he looked over at her and turned to continue admiring the chest.

She walks to him and puts her hand on his shoulder, and watches as he traces the carvings with his fingertips. "I was sleeping… I had a bad dream, and I woke up and you weren't there." She said softly.

"No bad dreams for you." He said as he stood up and took her in his arms. "I love you."

"I love you too." She said into his shoulder. They stood hugging for several minutes and she put her head up and looked into his eyes. "Do you want to see what is inside?" She asked as she turned around and sat down next to the chest, slipping her thumb under the lip of the cover.

"I would like that." Matt said with a happy smile as he sat down beside her and slid his thumb under the lip of the cover as well. They both smiled as they lifted the top together.

"Wait! Close your eyes!" She says as the top is opened. Matthew closed his eyes with a very amused look on his face.

"I thought we were going to see what was inside." Matt said, smiling.

"We will, I just wanted to tell you something first."

"What?"

"I just wanted to tell you that you're the only person that I've ever let inside my heart, so you're the only person I'll ever let look at the things that have made me who I am. It makes me happy." She says, reaching out to touch his hand.

"Happy? Or Sappy?" He says, opening his eyes. He grabs her hand and pulls her into his lap, facing towards the box.

"You're a brat. Now I'm not going to show you." She says with a laugh, reaching up for the cover.

He covers her hand with his. "I'm sorry, I was kidding. You're being very sweet, I have to learn not to ruin it."

"Yes you do." She smiled at him and took her hand off the cover. "Ok, where should I start?"

--------------------------

Katie reached into the cedar chest and pulled out a small afghan, it is haphazardly knitted together, with several different colors and patterns, but Katie takes it in her hands and pulls it against her face, taking in the scent of it.

"This is the blanket that my mother knitted for me when she was pregnant for me. She was tired of sitting at home during maternity leave and Izzie told her that knitting was good for surgical dexterity. It used to be one of my favorite things to cuddle to." Katie smiled as she held it up, smiling.

"Aw… that was nice of her." Matthew smiles. "Its very… um… asymmetrical." He says with a laugh.

"Hey! My mother's a surgeon, not a knitter, give her a break." Katie laughs as she takes the afghan and puts it in her lap, snuggling it down between her legs. "Ok… next…" She says as she reaches into the box.

Katie next pulls out a little white box. "Do you remember this?" She says as she carefully opens the box.

He smiles as she moves the tissue aside to reveal the little angel ornament that she had picked out so long ago. "That lady made you cry and then I smashed that ornament! Dad loves to tell that story!" Matt laughed.

"Look!" Katie says as she pulls the tissue out. "There are pieces of your ornament in here! I can't believe that the lady actually put it in there!" She says as she pulls out a piece of broken glass from the bottom of the box.

"Aww!" Matt says, taking the little piece from her hand. He smiles at her and holds it up. "Best. Ornament. EVER!" He says with a full laugh, giving Katie the giggles as she reached in for something else.

--------------------------

She moves a couple things around at the bottom of the chest and carefully lifts something out and then very quickly throws it back inside and starts to close the box. "Ok, I think we're done." Katie said quickly, her face suddenly pale and sad.

"What? We have hardly even looked at anything. What's wrong?" Matt said, pulling her close.

"Nothing." Katie said. "I'm… I'm just tired, that's all." Katie said as she picked up the ornament and the afghan and gently placed them into the box without opening it any farther than she needed to. "I'm going to go upstairs to bed. I'll see you later." She said as she carefully got up from his lap. She slid over to him and kissed him. "I love you. Goodnight." She said quickly as she stood up and jogged up the stairs.

Matthew sat there for several minutes, watching the stairs that she had ascended, a sadness washed over him as he tried to run through his mind what could have possibly made her so upset.

He looked at the chest and then at the stairs, and then back at the chest. He got up on his knees and opened the top of the cedar chest. He moved the ornament and the afghan to the side and looked at something that was sitting deep within the chest.

He reached in and touched it, he could feel a soft felt material as he ran his fingers over the object. He grasped it carefully and pulled it out. Sitting down, he held the felt covered scrap book in his hands and carefully ran his finger across the soft felt cover.

The color was faded and the binding was worn, it looked like the book had gotten a lot of love. He carefully opened the book, hearing the crackle of the page as it opened to the first page.

He carefully ran his finger over the old postcard, it was a beautiful picture of the Great Pyramid. He saw the yellowed edges and the small paper beside it with the words from the postcard carefully written out. He looked up when he heard the sound of the stairs creaking.

He suddenly heard Katie's voice from the top of the stairs.

"Dear Meredith, I miss you all very much. I hope that everything is going well back in Seattle and that its not raining too much. The sights out here are amazing and I am learning a lot about performing surgery in these less than ideal conditions. I hope that you all are doing well. Please don't miss me too much."

She paused as Matthew looked down at the page, reading the exact words that she had just recited.

"Love Always, Daddy." She whispered as he heard her get up from her spot on the stairs and run into the bedroom, the door slamming behind her and her sobs from within.

--------------------------

Matt gently placed the book in the box and ran up the stairs. He opened the door and Katie was curled in the fetal position on the bed crying her eyes out.

"I'm sorry sweetheart, I'm sorry I opened the box. Please don't be mad at me." Matthew begged her, sitting beside her, trying to comfort her.

She put her face in her hands and just continued to cry. "I miss my daddy!" She cried loudly as she tried to comfort herself, pulling into a tighter ball.

"I know you miss your daddy… I know…" Matt said as he lay down next to her, trying to get her to calm down. He ran his fingers soothingly through her hair and she slowly uncurled herself and put her arms around him, continuing to sob.

"He's going to hate me forever. I said so many mean things!" She sobbed into his shoulder.

"Your daddy doesn't hate you little girl, he loves you with all of his heart." Matt soothed as he ran his fingers through her hair. "He loves you with all of his heart." He repeated as her sobs began to quiet.

"You.. hic…you don't know that." She said indignantly.

"I know that for a fact." Matthew said, pulling her away, kissing her eyelids.

"You …hic…know that for a fact?" She said, taking a deep breath.

"Yes, little girl, I do." He said softly as he reached up and lightly wiped her tears from her face, kissing her nose. "Let's go to sleep… you're tired.

"I'm tired…" She said, her eyes wide as she stared into his dark green eyes. "I love you."

Matthew pulled her close into a hug. "I love you too." He whispered as they closed their eyes and drifted off to a peaceful slumber, tangled in their embrace.

-----------------

5am- Thursday October 23, 2031

Matthew arrived sleepily at the hospital. He entered the elevator at the same time as Meredith and Derek. Feeling a little awkward, he mingled in with the other doctors on the elevator and pretended that he didn't see them. They watched him intently as he rubbed his eyes and yawned. The elevator arrived at the surgical floor and Matthew stepped off and started to walk quickly down the hallway towards the locker room. He was not quick enough, however because Derek was able to catch up to him.

"Dr. Sloan." Derek called out as Matthew prepared to enter the locker room.

Matthew turned around and faced him, not really knowing what type of demeanor he was facing up against. "Dr. Shepherd." Matthew said respectfully.

"I have a surgery scheduled for this afternoon, I was wondering if you would be interested in scrubbing in." Derek asked, catching up to him.

"I would be happy to, sir." Matthew said with a half smile.

"I'll speak to your resident. Be in room 212 at 10am for a pre-op work up and we'll take it from there." Derek said with a smile. "Here is something to help get you through the day." Derek says, handing him a cup of hot coffee.

Matthew took the coffee gratefully and thanked Derek as he turned and walked into the locker room, happy that Derek was trying to make an effort to make a peace offering.

--------------------------

At the time that Derek requested, Matthew walked down the hallway to the room the Derek had requested him in. Derek was standing in the room discussing the procedure with the patient when Matthew walked in.

"Dr. Sloan!" Derek greeted him with a friendly smile. "This is Rick Anklis, he is here this morning to have a nasty tumor removed from his spinal chord… hopefully we can have him in and out in a few days. How does that sound Mr. Anklis?" Derek says happily.

The patient smiled. "That sounds great, Dr. Shepherd."

"Mr. Anklis, this is Dr. Sloan, he'll be taking care of you pre-op procedures and scrubbing in on your surgery this afternoon. If you have any questions, feel free to ask him. He's one of our top interns, a very bright boy." Derek said as he handed Matthew the patient's chart and started for the door. "Oh, Matthew, how is that beautiful dove that you have been taking care of?"

Without missing a beat, Matthew looks up at Derek with a half smile. "She is doing well, sir. Her wing is still giving her some pain, but she hasn't flown the coop yet."

"When are you planning on releasing her to the big, wide, world?"

"Monday. She'll be free on Monday." Matthew said smiling. "I'll tell her that you asked about her."

"Thanks." Derek said as he walked out the door. "I'll see you in surgery." He said smiling.

--------------------------

5:30 am-

"I swear Jackson, you're crazy." Charlotte said as she got into Jack's car.

"What?" He said as she closed the door behind her and he started to drive.

"You are the only person I know that gets up at four in the morning to go fishing. Why do you always drag me along?" Charlotte asked.

"Because I don't want to be lonely." He said sweetly. "Here, I brought you a bagel, shush up." He laughs.

"Oh, nice." Charlotte says, taking the bag from Jack as he drives down the road. They remain quiet for a while as Charlotte eats her bagel and Jack drives.

"I'm going to be an uncle." Jack says out of nowhere.

"What?"

"An Uncle, Char."

"An Uncle? You mean?"

"Yep…

"And your parents are…."

"Pissed…."

"Wow… that's all I can say…wow. Uncle Jacks."

"Don't rub it in… I'm too young to be an uncle."

Charlotte laughs. "You're not too young to be an uncle. You're just going to have to teach that little niece or nephew of yours some of your tricks, you'll have that baby wrapped around your little finger."

"You're just trying to get out of our weekend fishing trips!" Jack laughed.

"Me? Not me… I love waking up at the butt crack of dawn with you Jacks, I wouldn't do it for anyone else." She says, leaning over, giving him a peck on the cheek.

"Aww, and you said it so sweetly." He says with a smile resembling his father's.

-------------------------------

::Knock knock::

"I'll get it!" Katie calls to Matthew in the kitchen. She stands up and walks to the door, she opens the door and puts her arms out to greet Jack and Charlotte. "I have been missing you guys so much!" She exclaims while hugging them both at the same time. "Come in! Matty is whipping us up a great meal!"

"He cooks?" Charlotte asked incredulously.

"He cooks everything. He even makes me a breakfast burrito in the morning with eggs and cheese and green peppers and puts it in the refrigerator for me to heat up when I wake up."

"Wow." Charlotte says, sitting down. "You are one lucky woman!"

"Don't I know it!" Katie said with a laugh.

"I'm going to go into the kitchen and talk some sense into that man. You two ladies sit and enjoy yourselves." Jack said with a smile as he headed towards the kitchen.

-------------------------------

Jack enters the kitchen and laughs when he sees Matt cutting up vegetables at the counter wearing an apron, dancing a little while listening to his Ipod, totally oblivious to anything else. He walks up and reaches around Matt, grabs a carrot and sticks it in his mouth. Matt swings around with the knife in his hand, and takes a step back from the cutting board.

"Geez! You almost got yourself sliced and diced." Matt exclaims as he pulls the earphones from his ears and puts the knife down.

"What's up Doc?" Jack says in an amused tone as he munched on the carrot in his mouth.

"Haha. I'm sure you've already heard most of it." Matt says, reaching out to give Jack their secret handshake.

"Most of it. What are you doing in here making dinner? She knows how to cook." Jack laughs.

"I enjoy cooking, and she enjoys being cooked for. Besides, she's been getting sick a lot when she makes certain foods, so I just pick and choose the ingredients and she seems to like it. What were you two up to today?" Matt says as he turns to continue cutting vegetables.

"Just the usual weekend trip from school. Home bugging mom and dad, fishing, the usual."

"How's school?"

"It's going well. Man, you sound old, asking me about school.'

Matt puts the vegetables in a pan and turns around. He smiles as he smacks Jack on the back of the head. "I am NOT old. Why don't you go see if the girls want a drink. If your sister says she wants a Vodka tonic again, tell her she's a pain in the ass. She thinks she's funny."

"Ok." Jack laughs as he walks into the living room.. 

-------------------------------

Jack entered the living room and the two girls were laughing hysterically at something that one of them said.

"Martha Stewart wants to know if you guys want anything to drink." Jack said with a smile.

"I'll have a glass of apple juice." Charlotte said, smiling back at Jack.

"I'll have a Vodka tonic." Katie said, seriously.

"Okay… one water and one apple juice, coming up." Jack said as he turned and walked back into the kitchen.

"What? It was worth a try!"

"Not FUNNY!" She hears from Matthew in the kitchen.

-------------------------------

Meredith enters the living room and sits next to Derek on the couch, handing him a glass of wine. "Do you realize that this our first evening off together in almost a month?"

"Sucks to be chief." Derek says as he holds up his wine glass.

She clinks her wine glass to his. "Sucks to be chief." She says with a laugh. She takes a sip of her wine and sets the glass on the coffee table, snuggling farther into his chest.

"Do you think she'll ever forgive me?" Derek whispered as he set his glass down next to hers and wrapped both of his arms around her.

"It takes time. You both said some very angry things. Where's Jack tonight? He and Charlotte are usually in the kitchen eating us out of house and home by this time on a weekend night."

"They're at Matt and Katie's." Derek said, a little too quickly, dropping a kiss into her hair..

"How do you…. You sent him over there to check on her?" Meredith said in disbelief.

"Not to um… check on her, just to keep them company."

"You're unbelievable, Derek." Meredith says back.

"But?"

"That's why I love you."

"That's what I thought." He says as he kisses her head once again. "I miss her." He says softly.

"I know." Meredith whispers back.

-------------------------------

"So what did you guys do today?" Katie says, taking a bite off her fork.

"What do we do every weekend?" Charlotte laughed, Jack throws a piece of carrot across the table at her, she picks it up and throws it back at him.

"Hey, now… I don't want to have to clean up after you two." Matt says smiling.

"He cleans too?" Charlotte said, prompting another piece of carrot to come flying across the table from Jack.

"Ha ha, funny." Matt says. "So Jack, have you been climbing lately?"

"I had a trip planned soon. Charlotte can't make it though, she's got 'obligations'" he says in a whiney voice. "If you want to come, I can put the plans back in motion!"

"That sounds fun. I have never been climbing before, where are you planning to go?"

"Ranier. There are some good campsites and some good climbing opportunities."

"Katie, would you care if I went with Jacks?" Matt turned and saw the concerned look that passed over her face.

"When are we talking? I mean… I am going to need some help in a couple of months and I don't want anything to happen to you. I don't know if going climbing is such a good idea, it's really dangerous." Katie said, standing up.

"We don't have to go climbing, we could just go camping. Right Jacks?" Jack nods. Matt looks up at Katie and notices she looks pale. "Are you alright?" Matt says, standing up next to her.

"Yeah, I'm just feeling a little sick to my stomach." She says as she starts to walk to the stairs. "I'll be right back."

"Yeah, maybe we shouldn't do any climbing, camping would be fun. I'd love to go though!" Matt said excitedly.

"Come on, man… she's got you cooking and cleaning and now she doesn't want you to have any fun. You can handle it, I'll be right there!" Jack whispers across the table.

"I guess what she doesn't know wouldn't hurt her." Matt says, glancing over at the stairs.

"You guys are evil." Charlotte says to them, they both glare at her. "What? I can't have an opinion?"

"An opinion about what?" Katie asks, coming down the stairs.

"Nothing." The boys say together.

"These morons think that they're going to go climbing even though you said not to." Charlotte said point blank with a deadly glare to Jack.

"We do not! She said not to, so we won't." Matt says, glaring at Charlotte.

"You had better not. I don't want to raise a child alone." Katie says, poking Matt on the back of the neck.

"I won't do it if you don't want me to. You can trust me." Matt says, looking up at her as she starts to sit down.

"I had better be able to trust you." Katie says, picking up her fork, throwing a warning glance in Matthew's direction.


	44. Chapter 44

Chapter 44-

4:30am.

"But MATTY! I don't wanna go to work!" Katie whines as he holds his hand on her back while leading her down the hallway.

"I have to go to work, you have to go to work. Don't be such a lazy bum." Matthew said with a yawn.

"I am not a lazy bum. I just wanna sit around the house all day and do nothing." Katie says as she walks down the stairs.

"If I were to get a dictionary out and look up 'lazy bum' your picture would be underneath the definition." Matt says with a laugh.

"And if I took said dictionary and shoved it up your nose, you'd be sneezing words for a month."

"Ha... Ha... Come on, breakfast is on. You can have a nice healthy breakfast before your first day back in the real world." He says, pushing her into the kitchen lightly.

"Real world sucks."

----------------------

5am- Mercy West Hospital

Katie walked into the front doors of the hospital. Stepping into this hospital gave her a chill when she thought of why she was here. She had a meeting with the chief of surgery in the afternoon, but she was told for now to head to the locker room and meet her resident and fellow interns. Matthew had given her his seashell for good luck and she grasped it tightly in her pocket as she approached the locker room. She had promised to page him if she needed someone to talk to.

She opened the door slightly and she could hear the chatter of the interns inside.

"I heard that she got pregnant and they kicked her out of the program."

"I thought her father was chief of surgery? They wouldn't kick her out if that's true."

"He is chief of surgery…."

"Dr. Shepherd, can I help you with something?" Katie hears from behind. She whips around and throws her arms around the person behind her.

"Aunt Crissy!" She exclaims, almost in tears.

"Katie, you're going to ruin my reputation around here." Cristina laughs as she hugs her tightly. "Are you alright?"

"Yeah… I'm fine." Katie says, releasing her grasp from around Cristina's neck, wiping the stray tear coming down her face. "I'm just a little nervous."

"Nervous? Katherine Shepherd is nervous? You have time and talent on your side, let's kick some ass. Get in there and get ready, I have a CABG with your name on it."

"Seriously?"

"Seriously."

"Thanks Dr. Burke." Katie says with a smile as she opens the locker room door.

"No problem." Cristina smiles as she watches Katie venture in.

----------------------

Katie walked into the locker room and immediately she could feel the climate change in the room. Everyone had been chattering away until she walked in. The chatter had died down as she walked over to her locker. She opened the door, trying not to glance at anyone while she got ready to go. Suddenly a hand stuck out in front of her.

"Hi, I'm Dr. Mason. You must be Dr. Grey-Shepherd." The handsome dark haired intern says politely.

"Just Dr. Shepherd, its nice to meet you, Dr. Mason." Katie says, taking his hand in hers and shaking it. She began to change into her scrubs as Dr. Mason sat down on the bench next to her.

"Whose intern group are you in?" He asked curiously.

"Dr. Goodson." Katie replied as she got ready.

"Dr. Goodson, that's my group. I can show you around the hospital while we're on rounds if you'd like." Dr. Mason replied.

"Um. Sure." Katie replied warily, very aware that everyone in the locker room is listening to her conversation. "That sounds nice." She says as she smiles weakly.

"Ok guys, lets get a move on!" A resident calls out as she enters the room.

"Come on! That's us!" Dr. Mason exclaims as he grabs Katie's hand and pulls her along out the door.

----------------------

"I don't even know what your first name is." Dr. Mason says as they're walking down the hallway during rounds.

"I don't know yours either." Katie smiles.

"I'll tell you mine, if you tell me yours." He smiles.

"Oh, we're going to play that game. I know that game." Katie giggles.

"Shh… Dr. Goodson is glaring at us. Be professional." Dr. Mason whispers as they both straighten up and act 'professional', causing Katie to burst out into a fit of giggles.

Dr. Goodson turns and glares. "I'm sorry Dr. Goodson. Dr. Mason here was just telling me where the bathrooms were." Dr. Goodson turns back around, leaving Katie to her giggles.

----------------------

The interns all murmur as they're walking into one of the rooms. "Alright everyone, this patient has been …"

"Good Morning everyone." Cristina says, interrupting Dr. Goodson. "Its great to see everyone's sunshiny surgery hungry faces." She says sarcastically. Katie looks around at the other interns who kind of irritated with Cristina. "This patient is going in for surgery this morning. One of you lucky doctor jockeys will be helping. Dr. Shepherd, have you ever been involved in a CABG?"

"Yes, Dr. Burke. I have seen it done many times, I am quite familiar with the procedure." Katie responds, noticing the looks she is getting from her fellow interns.

"That settles it, Dr. Shepherd, you are scrubbing in. Thanks everyone else, have a great day!" Cristina says as she begins to guide everyone out the door. Katie watches as the interns leave, each one of them give her a dirty look as they step out of the hallway.

"Lucky Doc" Dr. Mason whispers to her as he smiles and waves to her as he walks out.

"Alright. Let's get started!" Cristina exclaims as she closes the door behind them.

----------------------

1pm- Cafeteria

Katherine works with Cristina through the CABG and is feeling pretty good about herself until she realizes what kind of mistake she had made by taking that surgery. She walked into the cafeteria and scanned the room. All intern eyes were glaring at her. 

"Hey. You looking for someplace to sit?" Dr. Mason asks from behind her.

"Finally, a friendly face. Why is everyone glaring at me? I haven't done anything to anyone here and they already hate me." Katie whispers as she sits down. Dr. Mason sits down next to her with his tray of food.

"There are a few things that you need to know about things over here. First of all, Dr. Burke is called 'the beast.' No one messes with her and she shows no favoritism. She performs some of the most complicated surgeries here and not one intern has been able to scrub in with her yet this year. You were here less than an hour and already you were chosen to do a surgery."

"You're kidding? 'the beast'? Ha." Katie laughs. "Seriously, the competitive edge is that bad over here? It was bad over at Seattle Grace, but not to the point of hatred." Katie asks, taking a bite out of her sandwich.

"It is much worse here! See, Seattle Grace is a tough hospital to get into, most of the rejects end up here, so you were already at a loss from the moment you walked in the door. Not to mention the gossip that has been flying around about you."

"Yeah, I already heard some of it." Katie says, not making eye contact.

"How much of it is true?" Dr. Mason asks, leaning in closer to her, whispering.

"You don't even want to know." Katie whispered back.

"This looks cozy, mind if I sit down?" Katie jumps when she hears the voice from behind her. 

----------------------

Katie whipped around at the sound of his voice. "MATTY!" She exclaimed as she jumped out of her chair. "What are you doing here?" She said as she threw her arms around his neck.

"I couldn't leave my special girl all alone all day." He says as he touches her face.

Tears sprang to her eyes as she hugged him close again. "I missed you!" She said as she put her head against his chest. She suddenly remembered Dr. Mason. "Oh! Matt! This is Dr. Mason. He has been very helpful all day with showing me around and making me feel comfortable." She said, her arms still firmly around Matt's neck as she indicated the man at the table.

Matt held out his free hand and shook his hand. "Nice to meet you. I'm Matt Sloan, I hope she hasn't been too much of a bother, she's a chatterbox." Matt said with a laugh, laughing at Katie giving him a playful smack.

"Nice to meet you too, you can call me Ryan. She hasn't been too much trouble." Dr. Mason says as he shakes Matthew's hand. "Looks like you two would like to um… have a little alone time, so I'm gonna go do something. I'll talk to you later Dr. Shepherd."

"Talk to you later, Ryan." Katie smirked as he stepped away, a playful smile on his face.

"So what are you doing here?" Katie exclaimed, grabbing Matt's hand and sitting him down next to her at the table.

"I brought you lunch!" Matt says, handing over a paper bag that the had in his hand.

"Lunch? What's this?" Katie asks as she takes the bag from him. She peeks inside. "Oh! Cold Grilled cheese! My favorite!" She says, pulling the sandwich out. "You're the best!" She says as she gives him a hug.

"How is your day going, my little princess?"

"Good and bad." Katie says, unwrapping the sandwich taking a bite.

"Well, it looks like you have an admirer, that's the good part, right?" Matt gives her a half smile.

"Who? Dr. Mason? Oh, he's sweet. He's made me feel home here. Yeah, that's good, you being here has made my day, though!" Katie smiles.

"Really?" Matt teases.

"Yes." Katie smiles.

"What about the bad things?"

"Everyone is gossiping about me. I feel lonely. I miss you and Alli and Kristin. They don't like me here."

"Gossiping about you?" Matt says, putting his hand on her face.

"Yeah, I heard them talking about me when I was coming in today. I have been feeling uneasy all day. Cristina let me scrub in with her this morning and I think they're mad at me about that too." Katie whispered. "Seriously, look around, they're all staring at me.'

Matt looked around and noticed several people put their heads down quickly. "They're just jealous of you, you know that. Listen, it doesn't matter what these dummies think of you, as long as you get to come home and snuggle with me at the end of your shift, we'll be happy." Matt says with a supportive smile. "You're drinking plenty of water right?"

"Yes sir." Katie grins.

"Have you gotten sick at all today?" Matt asks, holding her hand.

"Not since I've been here… maybe its something about you that makes me sick." Katie giggled.

"Oh yeah, well then I have to go." Matt says, standing up, teasing her.

"No!" Katie exclaims, grabbing his arm and pulling him back down onto the chair. "How did you get the time to come down here? Don't you have patients to tend to?"

"Um… well… actually…I wasn't completely honest with you" Matt replies.

"What do you mean?" Katie asks, beginning to get nervous.

"I was kind of asked to deliver something for someone." Matt confessed.

"Deliver something? The sandwich?"

"No… no, the sandwich was all from me." Matt smiles proudly. "I was asked to deliver something here for my boss."

"Your boss?"

"Yeah. Here. I am the chief's official Mercy West delivery intern." Matt says, pulling something out of his pocket.

"What's this?" Katie asks, taking the object from his hands.

"I'm only the delivery person." Matt says, holding up his hands.

Katie looks down at the object and turns it over in her hands. "A postcard of a ferry boat?" She whispers. "Why did he want you to…" Katie stops as she reads the back of the postcard. Her eyes begin to well up with tears as she reads the words on the card.

"What does it say?" Matt asked curiously leaning forward. Katie pulled the card close to her chest so that he couldn't see it, tears running down her face. "You're not going to show me?"

"It says. 'Katie, Katie little girl, I sure love my Katie girl. Eyes of blue and little curls, she's the best thing in the world. Katie, Katie, little girl, I'm so sorry Katie girl.' " Katie whispered.

"What does that mean?" Matt asked softly, holding his hand out to her.

"It means that he is sorry and he wants to talk. He always gives me a postcard when he wants to talk. My dad's not the best communicator in the world, but he knows what will get my attention." Katie smiled. Suddenly, her pager goes off. "Aw, crap." She says looking at it. "I got to go sweetheart, I'll call you later." She says as she leans over and gives him a quick kiss.

"What do I tell your dad?"

"Tell him 10pm, we'll sit. Just sit. He'll know what I mean." Katie says. "I love you!" She says as she rushes off.

"I love you too!" He calls out to her as he sits at the table. He looks after her leaving. "Just sit?" He wonders aloud.

----------------------

10pm-

Derek steps out of his car onto the cool deck of the ferry. He takes a deep breath of the crisp air as he closes the car door. He looks around and sees the silver BMW with vanity plates parked across the boat. He smiles sadly as he makes his way towards the stairs to the upper cabin of the ferry. He walks slowly up the stairs, taking deep breaths, scared of what she may say to him.

He peeks into the cabin and sees her sitting on the bench, looking out at the stars. He smiles, remembering the first time that he brought her out on the ferry and just sat. It was the night of his 'date' with her and her mother. She was so small then, so innocent, so sweet in her little green dress and big smile. He watches her as he passes the window in front of her, her gaze never wavering from the stars that she is staring out at.

He enters the cabin and sits beside her on the bench. He keeps his distance, knowing that he isn't there to talk, he's there to sit. They sit on the bench as it moves forward through the deep, dark water, their eyes never leaving the stars that they are gazing upon. Derek watches as Katie puts her hand on the bench between them, just lightly touching the cool wood boards of the bench. He continues to watch the stars as he slowly places his hand on top of hers, happy when she doesn't pull it away.

They sit there, contented, watching the stars go past as the ferry drags on through the water.

----------------------

When the ferry nears its destination, father and daughter remain on the bench, each with their own thoughts of what had happened between them. Katherine stood up, withdrawing her hand from Derek's. She stepped forward and put her hands against the window of the cabin as she looked out.

"That postcard was unfair." She said softly as she refused to turn around and meet his eyes.

"Unfair?" Derek asked, knowing full well what she had meant by the statement.

"You… You always use your little charming devices to get what you want. It's unfair."

"It worked didn't it?" Derek questions, trying hard not to smile.

Katie turns around, her eyes locking with his. "It worked to get me here. But I'm not sure if I'm ready to talk to you about it yet. You really hurt me with the things that you said. It broke my heart."

"I know, and there is no excuse for that." Derek says, his eyes never wavering.

"You are by far, the hardest person to be mad at, do you know that?" Katie says, tears coming to her eyes.

"I have heard that." Derek says, a hint of a smile on his lips.

"You see that? You see? You are sitting there and you want to smile, and when you do that, it makes me just want to hug you. Your nose gets all crinkly and the corners of your mouth turn up and I just want to hug you, but i'm so angry at you! I am SO angry at you. Stop looking at me like that!"

"I'm not looking at you." Derek smiles.

"I hate you." Katie says, her hands dropping to her sides in defeat.

"I know." Derek says, standing up and throwing his arms around his daughter, who pulls him tightly against her and hugs with all of the anger, frustration and love that is in her heart. "I love you too."

After several minutes of hugging, Katie pulls away from Derek and looks into his eyes. "Listen. I know that you're sorry. I know that we both said a lot of things that hurt both of us. I do love you daddy, don't you ever forget that. But I think I need to try to do this 'on my own' thing for a while. I think its good for me, and I think its good for you. Please don't think that I hate you, but I think its best for us if I just do this."

"But Katherine…"

"No, Daddy. I need to do this. I need to be able to do this on my own. Its bad enough that they don't like me at Mercy West because I came from Seattle Grace, but I can't have you holding my hand through this, I can't have you guiding me through every step of my life."

"I like holding your hand." Derek said softly, sounding lost.

"It's time for you to let go. Its time." Katie said softly as she walked towards the door. "I'll call you in a few days. I love you daddy." Katie said softly as she turned and walked out of the cabin, closing the door behind her.

Derek sat on the bench, lost in his thoughts as he watched Katie walk down the stairs back to her car.

------------------

Katherine opened the door to the house slowly, seeing the light from the television on in the living room. She quietly closed the door behind her and peeked into the living room. Matthew lay on the couch sleeping on his back, the box of letters that he had written to her on his chest. She smiled at the 'sleeping sneak' and walked softly to the side of the couch. She gently lifted the box from his chest and he gasped in surprise as he woke up, his eyes wide in embarrassment.

"I…I was…" Matt stuttered.

Katie placed her finger on his lips. "Shh… Sneaky Petes don't get to explain." She says softly as she lifts his feet and sits down, setting his legs across her lap.

"Did you talk with him?" Matt asked, his eyes still sleepy.

"Read me a letter." Katie says softly, clearly evading the question.

"Katie." Matt says, trying to get her to answer his questions.

"Matt." She says back. Giving him a glare that told him to just listen to her. "Please read me a letter." She says, reaching for the box. She sets it back on his chest and waits for him to choose a letter.

----------------------

Katherine opened the door to the house slowly, seeing the light from the television on in the living room. She quietly closed the door behind her and peeked into the living room. Matthew lay on the couch sleeping on his back, the box of letters that he had written to her on his chest. She smiled at the 'sleeping sneak' and walked softly to the side of the couch. She gently lifted the box from his chest and he gasped in surprise as he woke up, his eyes wide in embarrassment.

"I…I was…" Matt stuttered.

Katie placed her finger on his lips. "Shh… Sneaky Petes don't get to explain." She says softly as she lifts his feet and sits down, setting his legs across her lap.

"Did you talk with him?" Matt asked, his eyes still sleepy.

"Read me a letter." Katie says softly, clearly evading the question.

"Katie." Matt says, trying to get her to answer his questions.

"Matt." She says back. Giving him a glare that told him to just listen to her. "Please read me a letter." She says, reaching for the box. She sets it back on his chest and waits for him to choose a letter.

He slides his fingers between the letters and shuffles them around looking for the perfect letter. He looks over at her and she's giving him an expectant glance.

"I will read you one letter, but then you have to promise me you'll go to bed with me right after." Matthew says as he carefully pulls a letter from the box.

Katie gives him a glare.

"Katherine, I'm serious." Matt says, starting to put the letter back.

"Fine, bed after letter." Katie mumbles.

"Ok…. Here goes…." Matt starts, carefully removing the letter from the envelope.

"Dear Katherine,

I love you so much and I miss you. I was thinking about you again today, which is why I started the letter. Do you realize what today is? It is the anniversary of our first kiss. Well, the first kiss that we were both awake for, haha. I wonder if you remember, it was one of the most wonderful moments of my life. We were both fifteen years old and we were taking your dog for a walk near the pond……"

_FLASHBACK-_

"So, what are you guys doing at your school for english?" Katie asks as she throws a stick for Buster to fetch.

"We're reading a bunch of stupid books. I wish I were at your school, I would so much rather be writing essays." Matthew says as he grabs the stick from Buster's mouth as he returns with the stick.

"You're such a dork Matty. You actually WANT to write stories?" Katie laughed, picking up a stone from the ground and throwing it into the water.

"Oh shut up, crapface." Matt says back as he sits on a rock beside the pond.

Katie sits beside him and starts to throw stones into the pond, the two children are silent for several minutes. "Matty, do you think I'm pretty?" Katie asks suddenly.

Matthew is taken aback by her question but doesn't miss a beat. "No." He says simply as he throws a rock in the pond. Katie puts her head down a little and reaches for another stone. "You're not pretty, but you are beautiful." Matt says smiling. Katie's head lifts up and her eyes light up when she sees his smile.

"You're such a jerk!" She says as she pushes him. Suddenly he falls off the rock and they land on the ground together, wrestling. Katie ends up on top of Matthew, tickling him now and then. "Ha! A girl is beating you up!" Katie laughed as Matthew struggled beneath her.

"Oh yeah? She's a wimpy girl. She thinks she is so strong!" Matt teases back. Suddenly, he flips her around and he ends up on top of her, straddling her body. They suddenly stop wrestling with one another and just look into one another's eyes, lost for a second. "Katie…" Matt says as he starts to stand up. He realizes that his head has gone fuzzy and his heart is suddenly beating quickly.

"Matt!" Katie exclaims, grabbing his hand, forcing him to fall on top of her. "Matthew, can I kiss you?" She asks softly. Praying that he wouldn't laugh at her.

"You want to kiss me?" Matt asked, a smile playing on his lips disappears when he sees the sincerity in her eyes.

"Yes." Katie says as she leans down and closes her eyes. She lightly presses her lips to his. He responds by pressing his lips on hers, taking her head in his hands as he leads her into a deeper kiss. They pull away from one another slowly and just stare into one another's eyes.

"Wow." Matt says as he begins to feel a little uncomfortable in different regions of his anatomy.

"Yeah, wow." Katie whispers back as she leans down and kisses him again. 

Suddenly, they felt something hitting them. It felt like something falling from the tree. 'plink' …. 'plink'….

"What the heck?" Katie says as she rolls off of Matthew and sits next to him. She looks up into the tree next to where they were lying and high up in the tree, perched on two branches is Charlotte and Jackson… watching the whole thing, trying so hard to keep from giggling, throwing acorns at the two love birds.

Suddenly, the two troublemakers couldn't hold it in any longer. They began to shout in unison. "KATIE AND MATTHEW SITTING UNDER A TREE…. K-I-S-S-I-N-G…. FIRST COMES LOVE THEN COMES MARRIAGE THEN COMES A BABY IN A BABY CARRIAGE!"

"I AM GOING TO KILL YOU TWO!" Katie starts to scream as she attempts to climb the tree. Matthew grabs her, keeping her from attempting.

"Let's go Katie, let's leave them alone, they'll get theirs." Matthew says, slightly amused.

"Ok, it was one of the most wonderful moments of my life until your little brother showed up, but it was special regardless. I am looking forward to many other kisses that are just as special. I miss you and I love you. Please call me home Katherine, I don't know how long I can be away from you. Love, forever and a day. Matthew Derek Sloan."

When Matthew finished the letter, he looked over at Katherine and she had already slipped into a deep sleep, snuggled at the end of the couch. Matthew carefully placed the box of letters on the coffee table and lightly lifted his feet to the ground. He gently lifted her into his arms, where she instinctively in her sleep wrapped her arms around his neck as he carefully brought his sleepy love upstairs to bed.

----------------------

Tuesday October 28th, 2031- 5am-

"So, you still haven't told me what your first name is." Ryan says as he puts his scrub shirt on.

"And you may never know." Katie says smiling as she turns to walk out of the locker room.

"Come on! You have to tell me!" Ryan says as he follows her out the door. "You also never told me who that guy was that you were hanging all over yesterday at lunch time." He follows her.

"What guy? Oh… Matt…He's just the love of my life." Katie says as she heads towards her resident. "Why do I have to tell you my life story?"

"I'm just curious. 'love of your life'? Sounds serious." Ryan says playfully as they approach the resident.

"Serious? Give me a break, you have no chance with me. I have known Matt for a long time, you've got nothing on him." Katie says, flashing her engagement ring. "Besides, you don't even know my first name!" Katie laughs as they begin their rounds.

----------------------

10:00am- 

"Come on, tell me your first name!" Ryan insisted as he came up behind Katie at the nurses station.

"No, you are really getting on my nerves." Katie warned, though she smiled slightly.

"You seriously won't tell me?"

"Seriously."

"I'll get it out of you somehow." Ryan says as he puts down one chart and picks up another and smiles as he walks away.

----------------------

1:00 pm-

Katie enters the elevator alone, before the doors close, an arm pushes them apart and Ryan enters quickly. He turns around and pushes the button to the floor. "Going to lunch?" He asks Katie as the doors close.

"Yes." She says simply, having been a little creeped out by his behavior earlier in the day.

"I'll sit with you." He says as the elevator starts to move.

"Yeah." Katie says, watching the numbers pass. Suddenly Ryan reaches out and presses the emergency stop button. "What are you doing?" Katie asks, her voice nervous.

"I'm going to ask you one more time. What is your first name?" Ryan says with a sneer.

"Ryan, you're making me nervous. Can you just push the button and we can just go to lunch?" Katie says as she reaches for the button. Ryan grabs her hand and pushes her hard against the side of the elevator.

"No. I'm sorry, I can't do that. Not until you admit that you want to be with me." Ryan says, still sneering as he holds her hands against the wall. He pushes his body hard against hers so that her struggling is minimal.

"Ryan, stop it now! I seriously think that you need to stop!" Katie says, keeping her cool, pushing against him with all of her strength. The two of them fly across the elevator and he regains control as he slams her into the control panel of the elevator. "Ow! DAMN IT! LET ME…." She struggles as he pushes his lips hard against hers. Her eyes are wide with surprise as she struggles to regain control. He slips his tongue into her mouth as she grimaces against the pain that he is causing her. She moves her hands around until she finds the emergency button and she pushes it in. He is oblivious to the bells that have stopped ringing. She continues to struggle as the elevator doors open.

"WHAT THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE DOING?" A voice bellows from the hallway as Ryan suddenly finds himself being pulled by his neck and pushed roughly against the wall of the elevator. "YOU WANT TO DIE, DON'T YOU?" Katie crumples to the ground and begins to cry as Cristina repeatedly slams Ryan against the side of the elevator. "DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHO SHE IS? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT I AM GOING TO DO TO YOU AND YOUR CAREER?" Cristina screams as she slams him again and again against the wall. She stops for just a split second and holds Ryan tightly as her face softens immediately and she looks at Katie. "Katherine, are you alright?" She asks the weeping girl.

"No!" She cries out as she sobs louder.

Cristina's face turns from sincerity to complete rage in just looking at Ryan. "I am going to make sure that not only will you be kicked out of the program, but you're going to be walking funny for a VERY long time!" Cristina says as she knees Ryan in the groin and runs over to Katie. Ryan falls to the floor and begins to scream. "YOU SHUT UP RIGHT NOW!" Cristina yells as she pulls Katie into her arms. Suddenly Katie starts to hyperventilate. "Katie, you have to calm down Katie, you have to relax sweetheart, this isn't good for the baby, Katherine. Just look at me sweetie, look at Aunt Crissy."

"N..nn..no… I'm not o…oo… kaa…y…" Katie sobs.

"KATHERINE!" Cristina yells, getting Katie's attention. "Relax sweetheart, take big breaths. Big breaths…. You got it… It's alright sweetheart. Do you want me to call Derek?"

"Call Matt. My dad is going to be so angry." Katie sobbed.

"I'm going to call both of them sweetheart, as soon as security gets here." Cristina says as she cradles Katherine and watches as Ryan writhes on the floor.

----------------------

Cristina sat with Katie until she was able to find someone to call security to take care of Dr. Mason.

"Katie-bug, why don't we go into my office and I'll call Matt and your dad, does that sound ok?" Cristina asked Katie, who was still really upset from the whole ordeal.

"Yeah, that sounds good." Katie whimpered as Cristina put her hand on Katie's back and escorted her down to her office. Once in the office, she sat down on the couch with Katie, trying to calm her. "Aunt Crissy, tell me a story about something funny. I could really use a laugh right now.

"You want a funny story?" Cristina asks. Katie nods. Cristina shifts a little and sits back on the couch as Katie leans on her shoulder. "Ok, it was Charlotte's first day of school, Kindergarten, and she had just gotten into her classroom…..

_FLASHBACK-_

"Goodbye mommy." Charlotte says to Cristina as she walks into the room.

"Charlotte, come give daddy a hug." Cristina says as she grabs her daughter's hand before she disappears into the classroom.

"Oh my GOD mommy, I have to GO!" Charlotte argues as she walks to Preston and gives him a hug. "Bye daddy, I love you." She says sweetly.

"Bye baby. You be a good little girl. Remember, Jackson is just down the hallway if you need to know where anything is. He's in the first grade room." Preston says, giving his little girl a kiss on the forehead and standing back up.

"Gotcha. Bye daddy, bye mommy." Charlotte says as she waves to her parents and walks into the Kindergarten room. She closes the door behind her and stands watching all of the kids in the room run around like monkeys, screaming, crying, coloring. She just stands and watches and then turns and peeks out the door. Seeing that her parents have left, she opens the door all the way and starts down the hallway to the first grade room.

She peeks in the little window on the door and sees that the teacher has yet to get everyone organized, so it is a bit chaotic in there. She walks in the room and sits down next to Jackson, who doesn't realize that she's there. "These chairs are comfy." She says from her spot next to Jackson.

"CHAR? You're not supposed to be here, you're supposed to be in Kindergarten." Jackson whispers loudly.

"Shh…" She says and points at the teacher, who is trying to get everyone's attention.

"Okay everyone! Its time to sit in your seats!" The teacher announces. Everyone scrambles to their seats and Jacks sits, glancing over at Charlotte every now and then, wondering what she's thinking being here in the first grade room. Charlotte just sits in her seat with her hands folded neatly in front of her, looking attentively at the teacher.

"Okay everyone, its time for roll call." The teacher announces.

The teacher announces everyone's name except Charlotte's. "Is that everyone?" Charlotte raises her hand. "Yes dear, what is your name?"

"Charlotte Burke, Ma'am."

"She's new!" Jackson pipes in.

"Hmm… I don't have a Charlotte Burke, ok sweetheart, I'll check with the office to make sure, but I'll do that later. Ok everyone. Who is ready for first grade?!?"

"I AM!!!" Everyone yells, including Charlotte.

"And that Katherine… is how Charlotte skipped Kindergarten. They didn't figure out she wasn't supposed to be there for almost a month. She'd wait until we left and sneak down to Jacks' class. "

Katie and Cristina laugh at the story. "Thanks Aunt Cris, That's exactly what I needed." Katie laughs. "Let's call Matt and dad now. I think I'm a little calmer now." She says softly.

"We can do that." Cristina says as she stands up for the phone. "I love you Katie-bug."

"Love you too, Aunt Cris, and thanks."

"Anytime."

----------------------

Cristina sat at her desk and picked up the phone. Katie stayed sitting on the couch as she listened to Cristina's conversation.

"I'd like to talk to Dr. Matthew Sloan please, this is Dr. Cristina Burke at Mercy West. Yes, I'll hold." Cristina says. She looks up from the phone and makes faces at Katie. Katie smiles at her, trying to keep the sad thoughts in her head from taking over.

"Yes. He's in surgery? How about Dr. Meredith Grey, is she available? No. Of course the chief is available!" Cristina covers the phone receiver. "Does that man ever WORK?" she says, Katie laughs. 

"Derek! Hey. No, your son didn't play another prank on Charlotte. No, this is a little more serious. There was a little incident in the elevator, one of our interns decided to become a little more than friendly with Katie. She's fine Derek, the baby is fine too. She just has a little cut lip and she's shaken up a little. No Derek, there will be no ass kicking right now, you'll probably have to wait until after he's released from the hospital. I kicked him, yes. Yes, he's walking funny. No, you don't need to paralyze him, I think I got the message through to him. She's right here, would you like to talk to her? Derek? HELLO?" Cristina slams the receiver down on the phone.

"He'll be here in ten minutes, won't he?" Katie says, a worried look on her face.

"He said five if he can figure out how to use the helicopter." Cristina laughs. "He wants to see for himself that you're alright."

"I know, he's definitely a 'seeing is believing' kind of person." Katie says with a nod.

----------------------

About ten minutes pass and Cristina's door swings open. "Hey." He says as he smiles nervously and walks into the office. Cristina stands up and Derek turns towards the couch. Katie stands up immediately and runs to embrace Derek tightly. "Are you alright?" Derek whispers as he runs his hand soothingly through her hair as he hugs her with the other arm. Katie softly nods her head into his shoulder as she squeezes him tightly. "Let me see." Derek says, pulling away a little. He puts his fingers on her chin and lifts her face up to assess the damage. "Stupid bastard." Derek mumbles angrily under his breath as he pulls her into another hug.

----------------------

After a few minutes of hugging, Cristina walked up behind them. "Ok, ok… the wonderful father/daughter reunion. I have a surgery in ten minutes. Just close the door when you go." Cristina says, with fake irritation.

"Cris, thanks." Derek says, looking up at her.

"No problem." Cristina says, with a small smile as she walks out of the office.

"Hey. Why don't we sit down and you can tell me what happened." Derek says softly to Katie as she slowly loosens her grip.

"I don't want to talk about it." Katie says as she turns and sits down on the couch, Derek sits beside her.

"That's fine sweetheart. Do you want to talk about anything else?" He asks softly as she lays down, putting her head in his lap, looking up at him. Her tears still fresh in her eyes.

"No." Katie says, staring directly into Derek's eyes.

"Come on, baby blue eyes. Talk to me."

"You talk to me. Tell me a story."

"A story?"

"Tell me the story of how you and mom met."

Derek sat there thinking for a moment, trying to think of the perfect place to start.

_Derek walked out of the hospital and headed towards his car. It had been a long, hard day at his new job. Chief Webber seemed to have faith in him, he just hoped that he was up for the job. The new interns start tomorrow. He was not really looking forward to it, some green, cocky, surgery hungry interns are going to come in and mess up his rhythm. It wasn't something he was going to find very thrilling._

"Why the hell do they make me park all the way out here?" Derek mumbled to himself as he made his way to his car. He noticed a green neon light across the parking lot, across the street from the hospital. "Hmm… very convenient that they put a bar so close to the hospital. I could really use a drink." He says to himself as he continues past his car to the bar. "Hmm.. Emerald City Bar. Doesn't look like a dive." Derek says as he enters the bar. He walks in, hearing the bell on the door make a tinny sound as it hit the door as it closed behind him.

The bar was almost empty, there were a couple people milling about. He walked to the bar and sat at the end. The bartender approached him and asked if he could help him. "I'll have a double malt scotch, Thanks." Derek says as the bartender turns around to get his drink. He scanned the bar as he waited for his drink. He saw a few couples sitting in booths and a man and woman sitting down the bar arguing. He keeps trying to put his hands on hers and she keeps slapping it away. She appears to be very annoyed by his advances. He watches her and tries to think of something to say to her without sounding like a complete sleaze.

"STOP IT!" She yells loudly to the man next to her.

Derek doesn't think twice, he stands up and walks over to her. "Excuse me." He says as he lightly taps on the woman's shoulder. She turns around quickly and angrily, her expression immediately softens when she sees the handsome man who is addressing her.

Derek takes a step back, he is immediately struck by the woman's beauty, her green-blue eyes blazing in anger. He gives her a slight nod, and tilts his head just slightly towards the man sitting next to her. "Do I know you from somewhere?" The woman says, trying genuinely to sound believable.

"It's me, Derek! I haven't seen you in years!" Derek says laughing.

Meredith listens to the sound of his laugh, it is a beautiful full laugh, and his eyes strike her as the most beautiful eyes she has ever seen, and that hair. Just seeing that hair made her want to run her fingers through it and…. "Oh! Yeah! It has been such a long time!" Meredith says, cutting off her thoughts.

"Why don't you come on over here, we can catch up!" Derek says smiling.

"Hey, she's with me?" The man beside her says.

Meredith tries to say something but Derek cuts her off, looking at the man angrily. "Not anymore." He says as he loops his arm and Meredith puts hers in it and they walk to the other end of the bar.

"Oh my GOD! Thank you so much!" Meredith says, giving the stranger a hug, taking in his cologne. 

"He was really with you?" Derek asks, smelling the sweet lavender scent emanating from the stranger's hair.

She pulled away. "Oh God, no. I have no idea who that man was. He just sat next to me and started asking me out. Yuck, ick…" She says, smiling. She asks for two more shots of tequila and turns back to Derek when they are brought to her. "You, on the other hand. You look like you could be a much better drinking partner." She says as she puts one hand on his thigh and downs the shots one after the other.

"You want to know how your mother and I met?" Derek asks, lightly tracing his fingers through Katie's hair.

"Yeah, how did you and mom meet?" Katie asked again, giving her father a strange look.

"At the hospital." He says as he swallows hard. "We met at the hospital. You know that story." Derek laughs nervously. "Hey, you have the rest of the day off, let's go over to SGH and talk to your mom. How does that sound?" Derek says as he carefully pulls Katie up into a sitting position.

"You are so changing the subject." Katie laughs as she stands up and heads for the door.

----------------------

Katie quietly got into her father's car and they drove silently to Seattle Grace. It was a comfortable silence, filled with unsaid apologies. Just as they pulled into the hospital parking lot, Katie turned her head to face her father.

"I didn't do it, dad." Katie says softly, waiting to see if Derek would bite, which he did.

"Didn't do what?" Derek asked as he parked the car.

"I didn't sleep with Dr. Baker." Katie says, flinching when she sees her father's reaction to the doctor's name.

"It doesn't matter." Derek said softly, though Katie could tell that her father seemed relieved.

"I love Matthew, dad. I do. I always have." Katie says, trying to get her father to look her in the eyes.

"I know, baby." Derek says, turning to look at his daughter. "I'm glad you're ok. I was scared." Derek whispered.

"I was scared too. Cristina really kicked his butt." Katie says, turning and looking out the windshield.

"Yeah, she's good at that kind of stuff." Derek laughs. The car is silent for a couple of minutes as they both stare out at the hospital.

"Dad?"

"Yeah."

"Will you come with me when I tell him what happened?" Katie whispered.

"I can if you need me to."

"I need you to." Katie said softly, turning her head to meet his eyes.

Derek reaches across and takes her hand in his. "I would do anything for you Katherine." He says.

"Thank you, daddy." Katie whispers as she reaches across and embraces her father.

----------------------

Meredith is in surgery, with Matthew scrubbing in when she looks up in the gallery and sees two familiar faces looking down. She looks over at Matthew, while continuing what she's doing. "I wonder what we did this time." Meredith mumbles to Matt.

"Excuse me, Dr. Shepherd?" Matthew says, thinking she was talking about something having to do with the surgery.

"The cavalry just rolled in." Meredith says, indicating the gallery.

Matthew looks up and sees them looking down. "I didn't do anything wrong, you must have." Matt says with a laugh.

"I didn't do anything." Meredith says. "Nurse, could you please go turn the intercom on, thanks."

"Dr. Shepherd, don't you have something better to do then escorting around interns from across town?" Meredith laughs. She glances up and sees Katie and Derek laughing.

He reaches over and presses the button. "There's nothing more I'd rather do then stand here watching a real surgeon at work." Derek says in response.

"Haha. Is there something I can do for you?" Meredith asks, continuing to work on her patient.

"We'll need Dr. Sloan as soon as he's available." Derek says seriously. "When you're done, could you come down to my office as well?"

Meredith smiled under her mask, her eyes twinkling. Derek blushed a little as he smiled back. "I can do that Chief Shepherd."

"Thanks. I love you." Derek says as he turns off his intercom.

"Love you back." Meredith says as she continues the surgery.

----------------------

Derek and Katie watch the surgery and talk candidly about work and family. They watch as Meredith says something to Matthew and he heads over to the scrub room.

"Ok, it's the moment of truth." Derek says, getting up from his chair.

"Don't remind me." Katie says as she gets up and follows Derek out the door. Derek puts his hand on her shoulder as they walk down the hallway together. 

"You sure you want me to be there with you?" Derek asks, assuring himself as well.

"Yes." She said simply as she entered Derek's office.

A short time later, Matthew knocked on the door and entered. "Hey, what's going on? What are you doing here?" He asks nervously.

"Matty, can you sit down. I just have some stuff to tell you about today." Katie says as she sits down on the couch. Derek sits at his desk, busying himself with papers, while listening intently.

"Now you're really making me nervous, are you alright? Is it the baby? What happened to your lip?" Matt asked, crouching in front of Katie, lightly running his finger across the cut on her lip..

"No! no! The baby is just fine." Katie says, taking his hand in hers. "I decided that I'm coming back to Seattle Grace." She says softly. Derek's head whips up from his papers and he watches the conversation.

"What? Why? What happened?" Matt says, sitting next to her. He glances up and notices Derek paying attention to the conversation and Derek quickly looks back down at his papers, shuffling them around.

"I was attacked in the elevator today at work." Katie says softly, trying to remain calm.

"WHAT?" Matthew yells standing up quickly in front of Katie. "YOU WERE WHAT?" Matt yells. Derek walks over and puts a calm hand on Matt's shoulder. Katie could see him physically relax to the touch.

Katie stood up and looked up at him. "I was going to lunch and Ryan cornered me in the elevator. He tried to force himself on me." Katie said sadly, tears falling from her eyes as she hugs Matthew tightly.

"HE DID WHAT?" Meredith yells from the doorway. "I AM GOING TO KILL HIM!" She says angrily as she turns and storms out of the office.

Derek looks up at Katie and Matthew embracing. They look over at him. "Did she just…?" He asks, unable to complete his sentence

They nod.

"And then she….?" Derek asks, indicating the door.

They nod again.

"She's going to kill him." Derek says as he gets up and runs down the hallway after his wife.

----------------------

By the time Derek caught up with Meredith, she was almost to the car. "Meredith! Stop! Wait!" Derek called after her. She quickly evaded his calls and continued her tirade to the car, mumbling angry sentiments the entire way.

"Meredith." Derek said breathlessly as he caught up with her, he grabbed her arm.

She whipped around and glared at him. "What?" She said angrily, her eyes burning with anger.

"Where are you going?" Derek asked, still catching his breath.

"Where do you think I'm going? I'm going to kill the man that hurt my baby. Why haven't you done it already?" Meredith says accusingly as she wrenched her arm from his grasp.

"Because it isn't practical, Meredith." Derek says, taking her hand. "Come on, you should go talk to Katie, she'll explain what happened and we can work on getting her back here."

Meredith wrenched her hand back once again out of his grasp. "Get her back here? Why? So that you can call her more names and make her feel more like a piece of crap . You sent her there! This is your fault!" Meredith said angrily, and immediately regretted her words. Derek's face fell. "Derek… I'm sorry, I didn't mean that!" Meredith said, feeling extremely guilty. She reached for his hand, but he pulled away.

He gave her an angry glare and became very quiet. "I'm going inside to make sure she's alright. You do whatever you want." He said, his eyes glazed over with a broken expression.

"Derek!" Meredith says, reaching out for him. He just turns and walks back towards the hospital. Meredith gets into the car and watches as he slowly makes his way to the hospital, his head hanging, his hands in the pockets of his lab coat. "Shit." She says as she pulls out of the parking lot and makes her way towards Mercy West. 

----------------------

Derek walked angrily back to the hospital, confused as to why she blew up at him like that. She knew how upset he was with himself for sending Katie there, why would she say something like that? He got to the elevator and took it back up to his office, when the elevator doors opened, Katie and Matt were standing outside it.

"Did you catch up to her?" Katie asked.

"Yeah." Derek said, with a scowl.

"What happened? Where is she?" Katie asked.

"Who cares?" Derek responds as he pushes past them and angrily goes to his office.

Matthew gives Katie a glance. "I'll be right back. Wait here for me." Matt says as he runs down the hallway after Derek.

"Derek!" Matt exclaims as he catches up to him. Derek turns and glares at Matt. "Er… I mean, Doctor Shepherd. Dr. Shepherd, what happened?" He asks as he follows Derek back into his office.

"Nothing is wrong." Derek says as he slams himself down in his chair. "What would make you think something is wrong?" Derek says as he picks up the paperweight off his desk and throws it at the wall.

"If nothing was wrong, you wouldn't be making dents in the wall. Come on, what happened out there?" Matt asked.

"My daughter hates me, My wife is mad at me, My son is angry at me. I can't win."

"Katie does not hate you!" Matt exclaimed.

"Fine, she doesn't hate me, but I don't think she loves me like she used to. She resents me. She resents me for giving her whatever she wanted growing up, she resents me for getting her into Seattle Grace, she resents me for saying all of those awful things that I can't take back! She resents me for not being there for her when she found out that she was pregnant, she resents me for hurting her mother. She resents me for sending her to Mercy West without you, and I'm sure now she blames me for what happened today! So you're golden Matt! YOU ARE FUCKING GOLDEN! Because the only thing that you have done to her is leave her pregnant. You didn't know. You had no idea! I HAD NO IDEA, and I am her FATHER! You came back. You made up for your mistakes. I can't make up for the things that I have said and done."

"Derek." Matt says, trying to relax him.

"NO Matt! Her anger towards me goes back farther than even you can remember! She has always held a grudge over what happened between her mother and me. She knows that I wasn't there, she doesn't know the story. She doesn't know what happened before she was born. All she knows is that I showed up when she was four years old and moved my way into her life. I swept her mother off her feet and Katherine has always felt like she was just a background piece! I love that little girl with all of my heart, all of my soul, and I will never stop, EVER. She has NEVER been second to her mother, and I wish she knew that!"

"I love you too, Daddy." Katie's voice is soft like a whisper, coming from a small crack in the door. 

"Katie." Derek says softly, catching his breath from his tirade, his eyes tired and sad, tears streaming down his cheeks.

"Daddy." Katie whispers as she slowly enters the office. She closes the door behind her and walks up to him. She reaches her hand up and touches his face, lightly as a feather, just like she did on the day she met him. She looks him directly in his eyes, "I love you very much. I know what you have done for me and I know what you have done for mom, and I can never resent you for that. Never. I respect you and I love you and there is nothing that you can say, no matter how awful and angry you get, that can make me love you any less."

Derek smiles slightly under her touch.

"You're my daddy." She says softly as she wraps her arms around his waist, placing her head against his chest. "And there's nothing that you can say or do to get out of it." She laughs nervously.

Derek wraps his arms around her and kisses her softly on the head. "I love you so much Katie-bug. I'm sorry."

The two of them embrace for several minutes while Matthew busies himself by picking up the paperweight and setting it on the desk.

Derek and Katie pull from their hug and Katie turns to Matt. "Hey. Let's go get lunch or something, I'm starving." Katie says to Matt. She looks up at Derek. "Do you want to come with us?" She asks squeezing his hand.

"Nah. I think I'm going to stay here and do a little bit of thinking. You two go and have some fun before Matt gets paged again."

"Thanks Daddy. I love you." Katie says as she gives her father's hand a squeeze and turns to take Matt's hand.

"I love you too." He says as the two of them leave the office.

Derek sighs heavily as he sits down in his chair. He closes his eyes and the memories of that last day of happiness with Meredith before he left on his soul searching trip slips into his mind…………………

_It was a rainy, miserable night, the last that he would spend in Seattle, at least for a while. Everything was in order, the divorce papers signed, his land was being leased to a younger couple, looking for property to build their own house on. He had joined a program that would have him traveling throughout the world providing surgeries and medical attention in several different countries._

Derek was sad, lonely and heartbroken. He stood in his trailer gathering the last of his belongings into a few boxes. The only thought passing through his mind is how he doesn't know how to say goodbye to Meredith. He wished that he could just hold her for just one more night, taste her, touch her, take in her sweet scent. His mind is taken over by the thought of her as he is pulled suddenly out of his reverie by headlights flashing across the inside of the trailer. He looks out the window and recognizes Meredith's car immediately.

He turns away from the window for a moment, continuing to pack, waiting for her knock. He waits several minutes and it doesn't come. He knows that she is still out there, maybe she's waiting for him to go out there.

Meredith sits in her car. She's lonely and sad. Derek had told her a couple of weeks earlier that he was leaving, but she just couldn't believe it. She sat in the car in the driveway, unable to bring the courage to open the door. The rain poured down in torrents as she watched his figure move around in the trailer. She looks down at her fingers, trying to work up the courage to step out of the car. After a couple of minutes she looks up and she sees his figure standing in the doorway of the trailer.

"There. I saw him. I can go now." Meredith says to herself. Derek takes a step forward. "Damn. Can he read my mind?" Meredith thought. Then she thought about what it would do to him if she just turned around and left. It was bad enough he was leaving her, he didn't need her to leave him too.

Derek watches her in the car, he can't see her because of the headlights, but he knows that she sees him. He prays in his head that she turn the car off and come inside, but he didn't expect it. Not with him leaving so suddenly. "She is never going to forgive me for this; I wish she would come in." Derek thinks to himself. Meredith turns the car off and steps out, standing beside it in the rain, staring into his eyes. "Damn. Can she read my mind?" He thinks to himself.

Meredith stands in the rain beside the car, unable to move. She thinks to herself that she's lucky that she can even breath or swallow at this point. Everything seems to hurt. She stands there in the rain, getting soaked, just staring at his face, his beautiful eyes twinkling in the light of the porch. She watches as a tear slips down his cheek, but her legs are still unable to move.

They hold each other's gaze for what seems like an eternity. They both know what brought them together that night, they both know that this could be the end, which is why they both stand there, staring into one another's eyes, hoping and praying that this won't be goodbye forever.

Suddenly, Derek gets a rush of adrenaline mixed with desire as he stands there. He can't continue to watch her in the cold rain any longer. He rushes forward to hold her. Meredith watches him coming towards her and she instinctively rushes towards his embrace. They embrace in the muddy driveway, throwing all caution to the wind as they begin to kiss passionately. They continue to kiss passionately, with little moans of pleasure passing between them. Without parting for a moment, they walk towards the porch, fingers entangled in one another's clothing and hair as they undress one another in the rain. By the time they reach the door of the trailer, they are completely naked and soaked to the bone, but they don't notice nor care.

Derek lifted her cold, shivering body on the bed and covered it with his, their bodies warming one another's. They made sweet passionate love throughout the night. Kissing and caressing every inch of one another's body to be sure that it was emblazoned into their memories.

As they lay in bed, exhausted, Derek lay with her tightly in his arms, falling asleep. She watched him with bright, wondering eyes as she felt his grip loosen just a little. Mistaking it for him falling asleep, she moved her lips to his ear, kissing his ear lobe. "Please don't forget to come back home. I need you." She whispers softly and smiles as he pulls her tighter into his arms.

"I need you too. I'll never be too far away." He mumbles into her hair as they fall asleep for what they can only pray will not be the last time. 

----------------------

Meredith swung open one of the front doors of Mercy West and as soon as she stepped into the hospital, Cristina stepped in her path.

"He called you." It wasn't a question.

"He called me, he paged me, he had nurses come looking for me, everything short of a smoke signal. I don't think he wanted to set off the fire alarms at the hospital. What have you done to that man to make him so nervous about what you'll do to another human being? " Cristina asks, putting her hands on Meredith's shoulders, trying to get her to look at her.

"I don't want to talk, I just want to find him." Meredith says, trying to push past Cristina.

"He's not here. He went home, someone took him home." Cristina says.

"You're lying." Meredith says, eyeing Cristina, her body beginning to tremble with anger.

"No, I'm no… Ok… yeah, I'm lying. He's here, but you're not going in there. I already kicked the crap out of him." Cristina says, looking into Meredith's eyes. "What's wrong? There's more than just this. Meredith, are you alright?" Cristina says, tilting her head, looking at her friend, who has begun to shake and her eyes begin to fill with tears.

Suddenly Meredith begins to feel wobbly, her knees give out and she falls to the floor in horrible heart wrenching sobs. Her body trembling, her tears flowing from her eyes. Cristina knelt down with her friend and let her put her head in her lap as she cried, giving anyone that even glanced in their direction a dirty look.

----------------------

After several minutes, Meredith calmed down enough to have Cristina lead her to her office. She brought her into the office and sat down on the couch with her. They just sat there next to one another, Meredith's head resting on Cristina's shoulder.

"Did he tell you what I said to him?" Meredith finally said.

"You know Derek doesn't tell me anything, he knows better." Cristina said, patting Meredith's head.

Meredith let out a little laugh. "I basically said he was awful to Katie and that it was his fault for what happened today."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah. Its not his fault, you know. You know he loves Katie more than anything else in the world."

"I know."

"Derek and Jack have been fighting a lot lately."

"About what?"

"Everything." Meredith says sadly. "I feel like everything is falling apart." Meredith tried to hold back more tears. "No one is getting along with anyone, everyone hates someone or is fighting and I am so sick of it. I am sick of my babies getting hurt, I'm sick of Derek being an ass, I'm sick of it Cristina. I just can't take it anymore!" Meredith sobbed.

"Finally, I get something out of you." Cristina says, holding Meredith.

"It was so much easier when they were little." Meredith says, her sobs slowing.

----------------------

_"What are we doin daddy?" Jack asked as he skipped beside Derek._

"Going fishing." Derek said, patting his son on the head.

"Why's mommy not comin?"

"This is something fun for daddys to do with little boys." Derek explained.

"Why's Char or Katie not comin?" Jack asked as he stopped at the dock where the little boat was.

"They didn't want to come. Come here, let me help you into the boat." Derek said as he climbed carefully into the boat, lifting his gear in and carefully balancing as he reached over to pick up Jack.

"Catch me daddy!" Jack yells as he jumps, trying to jump into Derek's arms.

"No, Jack! Don't!" Derek exclaims, but it's too late, Jack is already in the air. Derek catches him in his arms. The impact of the little boy in Derek's arms causes the boat to tip over and they fall into the water with a big splash. Derek scrambles to make sure Jack is above water and he quickly swims to the side of the pond. Jack is spitting water out and giggling the entire time. He gets to the end of the pond and lifts his soaking wet son from the water.

"Daddy. I LOVE FISHING!" Jack giggled as Derek tickled him all the way back to the house to get dry clothes.

"Sounds to me like it was easier for YOU when they were little." Cristina laughs.

Meredith laughs at the memory. "Yeah, I guess you're right. Thanks for being here for me Cristina." Meredith says softly.

"Anytime." She says as she hugs her friend.

----------------------

Meredith spent the afternoon with Cristina at Mercy West, watching surgeries and just generally avoiding going back to work for the rest of the evening. Derek paged her a number of times, of which she ignored and just continued her day. At about seven that evening, she stepped out into the pouring rain and ran to her car in the parking lot. She looked at her watch and decided that she had avoided the inevitable for most of the afternoon, and it was finally time to go home and make things right. She felt better, refreshed and a little relieved as she drove to the dock and onto the ferry.

She thought of Derek as the ferry left the dock and how he loved to sit in the top cabin of the ferry boat. It was raining buckets outside, so she thought better than getting out of her car to climb the stairs. She watched out the window as the ferry floated through the cold, dark waters of the sound. She hummed a soft tune as the ferry docked at her destination and she slowly drove towards home.

She drove up the long gravel drive, with only one thing on her mind, how she needed to tell him she was sorry. She had said some harsh words in the heat of the moment, and things were not helped by the fact that she had avoided him for the remainder of the evening. The rain poured down miserably as the wipers cleared a view of the house as she drove up to it. She parked her car behind the one in the driveway and just sat and watched the house for a few minutes.

The porch light was on, as was the light in the dining room and family room. She sat and watched as she noticed the silhouette of Derek moving about the house. She smiled a little, thinking about how familiar she was with him and how happy he makes her. She frowned, thinking of the uncaring words that had spouted from her lips earlier in the day. She looked down at her fingers and fiddled with the keys for a few moments, working up the courage to go inside to apologize.

She looked up and he was standing in the doorway. His eyes twinkling, a smile playing on his lips as he silently beckoned her inside. She paused for a moment, taking in the sight, his handsome figure leaning against the door as he took a step forward.

Meredith stepped out of the car and closed the door, stopping again to watch him watch her. The rain soaking her through her clothes as she waited for some indication that he wasn't holding her heart hostage.

He took another step forward, onto the first step of the porch, flinching as the cold rain fell onto his hair, not caring that the water was seeping into his clean, dry sweater. "Are you going to stand out there in the rain all night, or are you going to get over here and give me a hug?" He asked with a smile as he slowly walked towards her.

Taking the cue that she had been looking for, she rushed forward as he enveloped her into his arms. "I'm sorry! I am so sorry!" Meredith cried as she buried her face into his sweater. He tightened his arms around her and put his face in her wet hair, taking in the sweet aroma of her hair that is released by the raindrops.

"We've been waiting for you." Derek says softly as he softly releases his grip from around her, and gently takes her hand. "Come on." He says as he leads her towards the house. She notices that Jack, Katie and Matthew are standing at the doorway, waiting for them to come in.

"What's this?" Meredith asks as they get to the porch steps.

"It's a family dinner. Just me, you and the kids." Derek smiled.

"How'd you know I was coming?" Meredith whispered as she entered the house.

"Because you always come back home." Derek said with a smile as he took the towel that Katie had handed him and softly wiped the raindrops from her face.

"I love you." She whispered.

"I know, and I love you."

----------------------

After dinner, the family sat and talked for a while until Katie and Matthew had to leave. They saw them off and Meredith went upstairs to get ready for bed. Jack and Derek sat on the couch, watching television. The tension between them growing as the time passes.

"I just don't see why you let me do it. It's not fair." Jack mumbled to his father.

"Jacks, I don't want to get into it. I said no. I mean no. We had a nice meal tonight for your mother and I don't want to ruin it by arguing with you." Derek said, as he sighed and stood up.

"Its just not fair! You let Katherine do whatever she wants! All I want to do is have a chance to do something on my OWN for once and you won't even let me do that! I feel like a prisoner here!" Jacks argued.

Derek turned around. "You CAN do whatever you want. Get a job! Get your own place! But for the last time, that house isn't mine to give you. We gave it to Katie, if you want to move in, you have to ask her, but I'm not giving it to you!" Derek said angrily.

"Don't you see how its not fair? You have ALWAYS given her whatever she wanted… ALWAYS. Why do I have to fight for what I want? Why do I have to be the one to sacrifice my happiness for her? She gets into trouble and you two are always there. All I want is a place of my own, and you won't even let me have that!" Jack said, getting into Derek's face.

"What are you two arguing about now?" Meredith asks as she steps down the stairs.

"Jackson is a spoiled brat and he thinks if he muscles me, he's going to get what he wants." Derek says, his eyes blazing with anger as he stares into his son's angry eyes.

"I'll show you SPOILED BRAT!" Jack says as he pushes his father.

"JACK!" Meredith screams as she runs towards the two of them, who are in the middle of an intense scuffle.

"You will not hit me!" Derek yells angrily as he attempts to hold him down on the ground.

"Boys! Stop it now!" Meredith yells as she attempts to pull them apart. Suddenly, Jack pushes on Derek, sending him flying across the room, smashing full on into Meredith who smashes into the wall, and falls to the ground.

"Meredith!" Derek screams as Jack stands across the room stunned at what had just happened. Derek turns to her quickly and holds her in his arms. She is unconscious but breathing, a large bump on the back of her head. Derek holds her softly, trying to wake her up. Jack starts to come towards them slowly to check on his mother. "NO! YOU GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE RIGHT NOW!" Derek screams at him, tears beginning to form in his eyes as Meredith's eyes flutter open.

"But Dad… is she..."

"GET THE HELL OUT OF MY HOUSE!" Derek screams, pointing at the door. Jack just stands there watching his father cradle his mother in his arms. Tears begin to flow down his cheeks as he watches him check her eyes and make sure that she can hear him. Derek carefully lifted her into his arms and holds her in his lap, talking softly to her as Meredith looks at him, dazed. Derek looks up at Jack and gives him an angry glare. To which Jack put his head down and turned for the door. He looked back only once more as his father lifted Meredith and carried her up the stairs, before he turned and slowly walked out the door.

----------------------

Derek carried Meredith up to the bedroom and opened the door with his foot. He listened as he heard Jack's car squeal out of the driveway and gently placed Meredith on the bed. She sit there dazed, not looking at Derek.

"Meredith, are you sure you're ok?" Derek asked as she lay down, staring at the ceiling. "Meredith?" He asked.

"I'm fine." She whispered as she rolled over onto her side, facing away from Derek, she snuggled into her blankets and quietly fell asleep.

Derek got into bed next to her. He lay on his back for several minutes, staring at the ceiling, thinking. He then put his arm around Meredith and pulled her close to him. He smiled as she took his hand in hers and snuggled deeper into his embrace, falling into a dream filled sleep.


	45. Chapter 45

Chapter 45-

1am-

plink plink plink

Charlotte looked up from her computer and listened. She wasn't sure if she heard what she thought she heard. It was silent, so she went back to work.

plink

"What on earth does he want?" She whispers to herself as she gets up and walks towards the window. She peeks out and Jackson is standing below. She opens the window. "What?" she whispers.

"Please come down?" Jack says, visibly sad and shaken.

"I'll be right down." Charlotte whispers as she throws her bathrobe around her shoulders. She peeks into her mother's bedroom and sees that she is sleeping soundly, and she quietly creeps down the stairs. She gets to the bottom of the stairs and begins to open the door.

"Charlotte. Tell Jackson to knock like normal people next time." Cristina's voice comes from her upstairs bedroom.

"How does she do that?" Charlotte whispered to herself as she opened the door and stepped outside. 

---------------------------

Jackson stood at the bottom of the steps of the porch as Charlotte came outside. "What's wrong?" She asks when she sees that he had been crying.

"I need to talk to you." He says as he takes a step onto the porch.

"Come here." She says as she takes his hand. She brings him to the porch swing and sits down. He sits down next to her and she lets him put his head in her lap. He begins to softly sob as Charlotte lightly traced her fingers through his hair. Her fingertips dancing along the outline of his ear. "Tell me what's wrong." She said softly.

"I'm an idiot." He sobbed, wiping his tears on her robe.

"Ok… what's wrong, idiot?" She says softly, smiling slightly.

He laughs a little between sobs. "I don't want to laugh. I'm upset." He says.

"Well, if you don't tell me what's wrong, then I can't fix it." Charlotte said softly. "But I'd rather hear you laugh." She says, bending down whispering in his ear.

He shivers at her hot breath in his ear. "I had a fight with my father tonight." He says, his voice shaky.

"You had a fight with your father…How is that different than any other day?" Charlotte asks.

"No Char, it was a bad fight. I pushed him and we were fighting and he fell back and I think I hurt my mother." Jack says, sobbing.

"You think you hurt your mother?" She says, no longer whispering. She takes her fingers out of his hair. "What happened?"

Jack sat up and looked her in the eyes. "I was having an argument with my father about the house, and it got heated. I pushed him and he pushed back, we ended up on the floor and my mother tried to break up the fight. When my dad loosened his grip on me for a second, I pushed him with my feet and he flew back and ran my mother into the wall."

"Was your mother alright?" Charlotte asked concerned.

"I don't know." Jack said as he began to sob again. "She hit her head pretty hard. I wanted to check on her, but my dad kicked me out. He told me to leave and he took her upstairs. I hurt my mother and I don't even know if she's alright." He sobbed.

Charlotte watches him with his head in his hands, so horribly shaken, it breaks her heart. "I'm sure she's alright Jacks. It'll be ok. You can talk to her tomorrow." Charlotte says, reaching over to take his hand.

"I'm such an idiot Char. I'm such a moron." He sobs as Charlotte reaches over to give him a hug. He continues to cry into her shoulder for several minutes as she hugs him close to her. His sobs eventually quiet and his breathing slows, but they remain hugging for a while after.

"You want to stay on our couch tonight?" Charlotte asked him as she released from the hug.

"Do you think your mom will mind?" Jacks asked, sniffling a little.

"Who cares what she thinks. You need someplace to stay, let's get in and get you to bed." She looks at him and sees his McDreamy smile. "Don't you dare smile at me like that!" She says with a laugh.

He laughs and she stands up, taking his hand in hers, leading him into the house. He sits down on the couch as she gets a pillow and blanket for him.

She comes back and sets them down. She kneels down in front of him and looks at him in the eyes, holding his hands. "Are you going to be alright?" She asks him, tilting her head.

"I'll be alright." He says. "Thanks for fixing it, Char, I don't know what I'd do without you." He smiles.

"Oh, you'd probably be throwing stones at some stranger's window, making their mother annoyed." She says smiling.

"No Char, I mean it. I don't know where I'd be without you." He says as he reaches his hand out, touching her face. He bends down and kisses her lightly on the lips.

She jumps back in shock. "Jackson! What the hell was that?" She whispers, looking him in the eyes.

He sits back on the couch and puts his hands over his face. "I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" He whispers. "I'm sorry, I kissed you!" He whispers. "I screwed it up, I screwed it up."

"Jackson." Charlotte whispers, trying to get his attention. She reaches out and takes both of his hands off his face. She holds them in her hands. "Jack, that's not how you do it." She says slyly. She laughs quietly as she pushes his shoulders, sending his back crashing onto the couch. She crawls on top of him, pushing her body against his and kisses him passionately, running her hands through his hair, he running his through her hair. Suddenly, she breaks the kiss and rolls off of him lightly onto the floor. She turns and stands up, wiping the kiss from her lips. She looks down at his shocked face, his body obviously aroused by the experience. She looks him in the eyes as she reaches down and touches her fingers to his lips. "Now that Jackson…THAT was a kiss." She smiles. "I have to get to bed. Goodnight." She smiles sweetly as she turns towards the stairs and ascends them quietly as she looks back at Jack, lying on the couch, his fingers lightly touching his smiling lips, his eyes in a haze.

---------------------------

Jack watches Charlotte disappear out of sight and takes a big breath, sighing in frustration. He sets the pillow that she brought on one end of the couch and covers himself with the blanket. He closes his eyes, but the only vision he sees is Charlotte. He can't believe what just happened. His eyes open and he stares at the ceiling for several minutes. Finally, he works up the nerve to get up. He slowly walks towards the stairs and creeps quietly down the hallway. He sees Charlotte's light is on in her bedroom and he takes a step forward. 

Suddenly, a VERY tired Cristina steps out of her bedroom. She stands in the hallway in her bathrobe, hunched forward slightly with her hair a mess and a scowl on her face. All she has to do is point at the stairs and Jackson turns quickly and runs back downstairs.

"Nice try." Cristina mumbles as she shuffles back into her room.

---------------------------

Jack turns the light off and lies down on the couch. He closes his eyes and tries to sleep, but he still can't get the vision of Charlotte, the touch of her, the scent of her, out of his mind. He lays there in the darkness for nearly twenty minutes when he hears the sound of someone coming down the stairs. He closes his eyes, waiting for them to turn the lights on, so that he can pretend he's asleep when he feels the pressure of someone's hand on his chest. He waits.

The hand travels down his chest, to the hem of his shirt. It carefully lifts his shirt and slips beneath it.

Jack jumps a little at the touch of her cool hand.

"I knew you weren't sleeping." Charlotte whispers.

"Your mother is going to kill us." Jack whispers back.

"I know. But won't it be worth it?" She giggles as she slips onto the couch beside him, scrunched between the couch and his body. She lays her head on his bare chest as she begins to gently caress it.

"No…" Jack says as he puts his hand on hers, stopping her from caressing.

"No?" She says in a sad voice.

He gently takes her hand and moves it down to his belly button. He sets it right below his navel. "Yes." He says, smiling in the darkness.

"Jackson Shepherd. You really do want my mother to kill us." Charlotte whispered, feigning surprise.

"You said we should make it worth our while, didn't you?" He laughs quietly as he pulls her body on top of his and begins to kiss her passionately.

Charlotte pulls away a second and runs her fingertips along his cheek. "I see that you've got the kissing part down. Let's see what else you know." Charlotte giggles as she kisses him long and hard.

---------------------------

_"Jacks. No. Daddy said you can't do that." Derek said angrily as the five year old attempted to climb onto the monkey bars in their backyard._

"But daddy, you let Katie do it all the time." Jack says as he takes his foot off the ladder.

"Katie's a big girl, you're just a little boy. I don't want you to fall down and get hurt." Derek said to his son, the little boys blue eyes twinkling with unshed tears.

"But I WANNA!" Jack cried out in a tantrum.

"Do you want to go back inside? You yell at me again and you're going back inside." Derek said as Jack sits down on the ground with a pouty face.

"NO! I WANT TO GO ON THE MONKEY BARS!" Jack screams, standing up, stamping his feet.

"That's it!" Derek says. He grabs Jack's arm roughly and turns him towards the house. "Get in there right now and tell Mommy that I sent you in because you're a bad boy!" Derek says angrily as he gives Jack's bottom a swat and the little boy runs towards the house crying. Derek turns around and Katie is on the swings, swinging very high.

"Katherine. Don't swing that high." Derek says as he turns to walk towards the house.

"Hush Daddy, I'm swinging." Katie says with a giggle.

"Just be careful." He says as he starts walking towards the house.

Meredith rolls over in bed and pokes Derek several times.

"Mmm… what, are you alright?" Derek mumbles sleepily.

"I just want you to know that I'm mad at you." She says sleepily and rolls back over on her side of the bed.

"Mmm… Ok." He mumbles as he cuddles farther into the blanket.

---------------------------

4AM-

"OW OW OW!!!" Jackson squeals as Cristina pulls him off the couch by his ear.

"Do you want to die?" Cristina says as he stands up and she pushes him back down onto the couch.

"I was…. I ahhh… " Jack stuttered as he rubbed his ear.

"If you keep talking, I'm going to kill you!" Cristina says angrily, pointing at him. "WHAT DO YOU THINK YOU TWO WERE DOING DOWN HERE? HUH?"

Jack just stood there, looking at Cristina, red-faced and angry as she screamed. "WELL!! ARE YOU GOING TO ANSWER ME? ANSWER ME!"

"I uh…I…"

"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP! I HAVE TO GO TO WORK!" Cristina says as she stalks towards the kitchen. She turns and glares at Charlotte, sitting sheepishly next to Jack on the couch. "And YOU young lady. You are going to have a LOT of explaining to do when I get home from work." She says, stomping the rest of the way to the kitchen. They listen as she bangs around in the kitchen and comes out with her coat on and a cup of coffee in a mug. She glares at the two of them and stomps out the front door.

The two of them sit there for several minutes, staring at the front door. They hear Cristina's car pull out of the driveway and squeal down the road.

"I think we're in trouble." Jack says quietly.

Charlotte stands up and faces him. She puts her feet on either side of him on the couch and sits down on his lap. "Who cares?" She says as she kisses him softly on his cheeks and on his lips.

"She's going to kill you tonight." Jacks says, sighing at her touch.

"No she won't." She says, taking his cheeks in her hands, kissing his face.

"How do you know?"

"She's on call tonight. She'll have to wait until tomorrow to kill me." Charlotte says, wrapping her legs completely around his waist. She puts her arms around his neck and puts her head on his shoulder.

"So…"

"So, what do you want to do tonight?" Charlotte giggles.

---------------------------

October 28th 2031

5:30 Am

Derek rolls over and puts his arm around Meredith. Meredith shifts over towards the edge, his arm drops down. He scoots over and puts his arm around her again, she scoots a little more towards the edge. He tries it again, she scoots closer to the...

**thud**

"Where'd you go?"

"Shut up, I'm still mad at you."

---------------------------

4:30 am-

Matthew walks into the kitchen and finds Katie sitting at the counter eating a bowl of Lucky Charms. He walks past her, dropping a kiss on her head.

"Did you get sick this morning?" He asks as he pulls a bowl down from the cupboard.

She looks up from her bowl and gives him a half grin. "How about we not talk about vomit over breakfast?" She laughs.

"Sorry." He says, giving her a face. "How are you feeling? Is that better?"

"Much better. I was sicker than a dog, didn't you hear me vomiting this morning?" She asks as he pours his cereal in his bowl. He looks up at her, makes a face and then pours the cereal back into the box.

"Oh! Come on! I was kidding!" She says laughing as he puts the bowl back into the cupboard.

He turns around and smiles. "I know. I just don't feel like cereal this morning." He laughs.

"Ass." She says, stepping next to him to put her bowl in the sink.

"You're an ass." He says, tickling her, making her squeal.

Let go!" She squeals, he laughs and kisses her.

"Hey. What was up with your brother and your father last night at dinner. They were giving one another nasty looks all night long." Matt says as he gets his coffee ready.

"Dad and Jacks? They are always fighting. Jacks is um… a little jealous."

"Of who? You?" Matt says laughing.

"Come on, you've never noticed?" Katie says as she grabs her big water bottle out of the refrigerator. "He has always thought that I was treated better than him. He's such a pip-squeak." She says as Matt helps her with her coat.

"It doesn't help that you call him a 'pip-squeak'" Matt replies, putting his own coat on.

"Give me a break. Mom used to baby him all the time and I'd get yelled at. He's spoiled."

"You're both spoiled. You should cut him some slack. He's your little brother." Matt replies.

"Shut up, I can't believe you're taking his side." Katie argued.

"There are no 'sides'. You're not at war, I just think that you should look at it from both perspectives." Matt replies.

"You think you're so smart! Do you know that he used to bite his own arm when he was younger, and tell my mother that I did it!"

"Did she believe him"

"Well… no… but he tried to get attention that way!" She replied.

"Come on, give me a break!" Matt says, pushing her lightly towards the door.

"My mother always took his side over mine!" Katie says as she opens the door and walks through. They separate with a kiss, and go towards their respective cars.

"That's because your father was always busy taking your side!" Matt throws back.

Katie sticks her tongue out at him. "Goodbye, Jackson lover!" Katie says.

"Goodbye Daddy's little girl! I love you."

"Love you." She smiles shyly as she slips into the car.

---------------------------

6:30am

Meredith and Derek step into the elevator together. She stands about a foot in front of Derek, staring at the elevator doors.

"You're still not talking to me?" He asks as the elevator doors close. She scowls and reaches over and pushes the button furiously for the floor she wants to go to. Derek turns to the nurse standing next to him. "She's not talking to me."

He turns back to Meredith. "How about now?" She ignores him.

He turns to the nurse. "Nope… still not talking to me. Watch this." He reaches over and runs his hand slightly across her neck. She tilts her head as he tickles her, running his fingers up her neck to her ear lobe, her irritated expression turning to a half amused smile.

He stops just as the elevator door opens. She takes a step forward and reaches back, grabbing his lab coat. He turns his head to the nurse as she pulls him out. "See… NOW she wants to talk to me." He laughs as she yanks him down the hallway by his lab coat.

---------------------------

Meredith drags Derek down the hallway to her office. She pulls him inside and closes the door quickly behind her.

"You know what? I'm going to kill you." She grumbles as she faces him.

"Wow your office is small." Derek comments, looking around, ignoring her red, angry face.

"You embarrassed me back there!" She says angrily.

"Look, I can reach both my hands out to my side and touch both walls of your office. Isn't that weird?" He says, demonstrating. "Well, not quite…but almost."

"Are you listening to me?"

"Uh huh… embarrass, killing… I remember. My office is much bigger!" He says, smiling at her McDreamily.

"Do you even know why I'm angry at you this morning?"

"You know. This office reminds me of something…I can't quite put my finger on it. It has something to do with the size. Wasn't something else here before?" He asks, looking around.

"Derek!" Meredith says, frustrated.

"What? I'm just saying, this room reminds me of…. Ohh…. I know!" He says, as he grins slyly.

"What?" She says confused. 

"This used to be a utility closet! OH! Remember when we used to hide out in utility closets and have sex while you were supposed to be down in the pit? Oh… the memories!" He exclaims, a big happy grin on his face.

"DEREK!" She says as she grabs hold of his lab coat and pulls him out the door.

"Where are we going?"

"The conference room!" She replies.

"You want to have sex in the conference room? I'm all for it!" He giggles.

"GRRR!!!" She says, half irritated, half amused.

"You know you love me." He says as she pulls him, closing the door to her office behind her. 

---------------------------

Meredith pulled Derek roughly down the hallway by his lab coat, with him cackling the whole way. Finally she stops and turns around. She pushes him against the nearest wall and puts her finger in his face. His smile suddenly fades as he looks head on into what he calls her 'devil eyes'.

"Shit." He mumbles.

"Shit is right." She whispers. "Now we can have this argument out in the hallway, or we can have it someplace quiet, but either way, they already know we're going to have an argument. I've pinned you against this wall enough times in front of them for….Stop smiling…. Stop it!... Just get in there!" She says as she pushes him into the conference room. She looks around at the few people in the hallway staring at them. "Nothing to see here!" She says as she walks into the conference room and closes the door behind herself.

---------------------------

Derek walks into the conference room and sits on the table. "Aren't you going to lock the door? If we're going to do the deed, you should really lock the door." He laughs.

"Shut up. Seriously, do you know why I'm angry at you?"

"Is it because I made a peanut butter and jelly sandwich in bed and got peanut butter on your pillow?" Derek laughed.

"No… its not because you… you WHAT?"

"That's not the point." Derek said smiling, he then suddenly became serious. "Tell me what you're mad about, baby." Derek said, reaching out grabbing her by her jacket, pulling her close to him. "What's bothering you so much that you had to sleep on the floor this morning?"

She gives him a dirty look and his lips curl to a small smile. "Sorry."

"I'm mad because of what happened last night. You let him walk out of the house, you wouldn't even let him check on me. He must be worried sick!"

"Jack? Come on Mer, the only person Jack is concerned about is Jack."

"No. Did you see the look in his eyes? He was so hurt when you told him to leave!"

"I didn't hear you say anything."

"I WAS LYING ON THE FLOOR WITH A SPLITTING HEADACHE!"

"Shh… calm down. I'll talk to him."

"No you won't. You won't talk to him, I will talk to him."

"If you talk to him, you're just going to tell him he can do whatever he wants, because I am an ass, and then the whole situation is going to start over again, just like it always does. You spoil him. He's a spoiled brat!"

"Derek, stop it."

"Spoiled."

"Stop."

"Like stinking rotten meat. Spoiled." Derek says as he starts to kiss her neck.

"Derek, I'm serious." She says, brushing his lips away.

"Icky, gross, gross." Derek replies, attempting to kiss her neck again.

"Derek, stop it." She says, brushing his lips away. "You know what?" She says taking a step back, "You talk to him. You think you can do a better job, then you talk to him, but I swear to God, if either one of you raises your voice, you're both kicked out of the house." She says as she turns around to leave the room. She turns around abruptly, walks over to him, kisses him hard on the lips. "Have a good day." She whispers seductively and turns around and walks out.

Derek lets out a frustrated groan as he hops off the table and follows her.

------------

12 pm-

Katie is sitting in the cafeteria in Mercy West by herself, eating lunch. "Hey, how are you doing today?" Izzie asks as she comes up behind her.

"Izzie! Finally I see you around here!" Katie exclaims, patting the seat next to her.

"Yeah, I've been busy up there in NICU…I heard about what happened, I'm surprised you're back at work today." Izzie says, sitting down.

"I'm fine. I was a little shaken up, but Cristina took care of it."

"What did I take care of?" Cristina says, coming up to the table.

"Speak of the 'Beast'" Izzie says.

"What did you call me?" Cristina says, sitting down.

"Nothing."

"That's what I thought." She says seriously, she then lets a small smirk escape. "Oh, Katie… by the way, your brother is dead meat."

"What'd he do this time?" Katie asked as she ate her lunch.

"It's not really what he did, its more like what he would have done if I didn't come downstairs and stop it."

"Which would have been?"

"My daughter."

Katie drops her sandwich on her tray, Izzie drops her fork. "What?" They both say at the same time.

"I mean seriously, they're not kids, they can do what they want… I just prefer it not be done in my house."

"You'd rather have them do it in the car? In a hotel room? What?" Izzie replies

"Well, I'm just surprised it took this long." Katie says, picking her sandwich up.

"Wow, hot and heavy at mom's house. Wow." Izzie says.

"I would have though they had done it back in high school." Katie says, laughing as she turns to Cristina, who is holding her hands over her ears. She looks over at Izzie, who shrugs.

"OK, ok… enough of the 'children having sex' talk!" Cristina says. "Burke is going to flip out when I tell him."

"Oh, cut him some slack. Jack's a smart kid, he has always had a thing for Char. They're ALWAYS flirting. Don't you remember when they went to prom, now THAT was funny." Katie says laughing.

---------------------------

_"I don't want to wear this stupid tie!" Jack grumbles as he attempts to hook the bow tie._

"It's the prom, Jacks. You have to look nice for your date." Meredith says as she checks to make sure there is no lint on his pants.

"If it was meant to be mom, she wouldn't care if I was dressed up, or if I had on jeans and a t-shirt." Jack says as he finally gets the tie clipped. "There. Perfect."

"That's good, now get the stupid polka dot tie off and put the black one on that goes with your suit."

"Come on, mom!"

"Jackson, don't argue with me." She says as she hands him the black tie.

  
---------------------------

__

"I don't even WANT to go to the prom!" Charlotte says, standing in her slip, staring at the dress in front of her.

"Shut up and put the dress on. My mother made me go, I'm going to make you go, it's a family tradition."

"If it was meant to be, then he wouldn't care if I wore this stupid dress, or if I wore jeans and a t-shirt."

"Put the dress on."

"MOM!"

"Preston!"

"Put the dress on." Burke's voice comes from the den.

"DAD!"

"Stop being such a drama queen!"

"Grr!" Charlotte grumbles as she grabs the dress off the hanger and storms into the bathroom, throwing her mother a look.

"I hope you bought a pair of shoes and a purse to match that scowl!" Cristina says as she rolls her eyes as her daughter slams the door. 

  
---------------------------

__

Jack stepped out of the bathroom and walked towards the stairs. "Hey, where'd you guys go?" He says as he walks down the hallway. He starts to walk down the stairs and suddenly…

flash flash

"Hey! I said no pictures!" He exclaims as he runs down the stairs after Katie.

"HAHA! TOO LATE!" She squeals as he chases her around the couch.

"I said no pictures! I don't want any pictures!" He yells as he almost catches her.

"Ok! Stop! Stop!" Derek says as he grabs his daughter and swings her around behind him. Jack stops in front of him.

"I want that camera!" Jack said his face red in embarrassment and anger.

ding dong

"Too late!" Katie squeals.

"Come on Jacks, open the door for your date." Meredith says, smiling proudly.

Jack glares at Katie as he walks towards the door. He straightens out his tie and takes a deep breath as he opens the door. He greets her kindly and invites her inside for a minute.

"Jenna, I'd like you to meet my family. This is my mom, my dad, and that, over there. That's just my sister, ok. Let's go." He says quickly as he starts to usher her out the door.

"Wait!" Meredith says, getting Jacks attention.

"What?" He says, a mildly irritated look on his face.

"You almost forgot her corsage!" Meredith says, rushing into the kitchen. Jack rolls his eyes.

"Hey! While we're waiting for mom, let's take some pictures of the happy couple!" Katie says, beaming.

  
---------------------------

__

Charlotte stepped out into the hallway, and walked down the hallway. She found her mother and father downstairs, waiting for her.

"Come down here, princess." Preston calls as she peeks from the top of the stairs. Charlotte steps out and walks down the stairs, refusing to smile. "Come on baby, let daddy see one of your world famous smiles." He says, trying to get her to smile. "You look gorgeous."

Charlotte mumbles under her breath inaudibly.

"Charlotte, you do not look like a hooker, you look beautiful." Cristina says, giving her daughter a dirty look.

"How did you even hear that? I didn't even say it out loud."

"Hush." Cristina says as she brushes a stray hair from Charlotte's face.

ding dong

"There's your date!" Preston says, excited.

"Sure is." Charlotte says sarcasticaly, plastering a fake smile on her face.

Preston goes to the door and opens it. "Good evening, I'm Preston, Charlotte's father." Preston says, holding his hand out to the young man standing at the door.

He sticks his hand out and loosely shakes Preston's. "Nate." He says, a half smile on his face. He looks past Preston to Charlotte. "Ready?"

"Yeah. Let's go." Charlotte says as she quickly pushes past her father. "Love you daddy. Bye mom!" She says as she slips out the door quickly.

Preston closes the door and looks over at Cristina. "Wow."

"Charming… isn't he?" She replies. 

  
---------------------------

__

Jack arrives at the prom with Jenna and she immediately runs to chatter away with her friends who are standing in a corner talking. He walks around awkwardly, pulling at his tie and looks over at the table of guys that her friends came with.

"Jock… jock… idiot…jock…" He says to himself as his eyes scan over the boys sitting at the table. "I am definitely not sitting over there with…"

"Hey Jack! Let's go sit with my friends and their dates!" Jenna says, taking his arm.

"Crap." He says to himself.

"What?"

"Nothing. Um... I said, let's chat… with them…chat with them." Jack stutters.

Jenna led him over to the table and introduced him to all of her friends, which he didn't retain at all. He just smiled and said hello. He sat there oblivious until he heard something that immediately piqued his interest.

"I can't believe he came with her! He actually did it. He came with Charlotte Burke. What a joke!" Jenna says laughing.

"Charlotte Burke?" Jack says, being driven out of his daydream. "Who's with Charlotte Burke?"

"My ex-boyfriend, Nate. He's such an asshole. I can't believe he came with that loser." Jenna said, looking behind Jack.

Jack turns around and sees Nate. He's standing next to a breathtaking woman dressed in a black satin gown. Her hair is tied up in ribbons and she is beaming. "That's not…" They suddenly make eye contact from across the room. "Holy crap." Jack says, as he sits there, staring directly into her glare. 

  
---------------------------

__

Jack stands up suddenly, his eyes never leaving Charlotte's. "Jack, where are you going?" Jenna says. Jack doesn't hear a word she says, he just stands up and walks across the room towards Charlotte's glaring face.

He walks directly towards her, his eyes never leaving hers until he gets just close enough to whisper. "Outside, now.", softly as he passes her. Charlotte rolls her eyes as she watches his retreating form head for the door. She turns to Nate. "I'll be right back, um… I need a little air." She says to him as she turns and heads out the door after Jack. 

  
---------------------------

__

Charlotte walks out the door and sees Jack pacing back and forth out on the front steps. "What the hell are you doing here?" She snaps at him.

"What do you mean, what am I don't here, what are YOU doing here? You said you weren't coming! You said you were going out tonight!" He says angrily.

"UH UH…. I AM OUT AREN'T I?" She yells.

"Shut up. You said you weren't coming because you thought it was queer and stupid and only snotty little bitches go to the prom!"

"YOU said that only pompous asses go to the prom! You're just as much at fault as I am! I would rather be at HOME right now!"

"I'm going inside now…. Snotty little bitch!"

"Fine…Pompous ASS!" She snaps back as they both storm back into the prom at the same time. 

  
---------------------------

__

8:15pm-

Jack and Charlotte walk back into the prom and separate to look for their dates. Jack spots Jenna sitting at a table, talking with someone. He walks over to the table and Jenna is sitting very close to another boy, whispering in his ear. Suddenly, Charlotte appears looming over the boy.

"Nate. Let's go get some punch." Charlotte says, trying to take his arm. He pushes it away and gives her a look.

"I'm talking with Jenna, Charlotte, do you mind?" Nate says, not even giving her the courtesy to look up. Jack looks at Charlotte and sees that her cheeks are beginning to flush with anger.

"Um… Jenna, why don't we go sit with your friends over there?" Jack says, trying to get her attention.

"Go away, I'm talking with Nate." She says glaring up at Jack. "Why don't you go play with LOSER Charlotte, since you guys are such good friends in school." She looks Charlotte up and down. "Geek, he was only using you." She laughs.

Charlotte gives her a dirty look as her face becomes even more flushed with anger and embarrassment. She turns around and starts to walk away angrily. "Char!" Jack calls, she continues to rush out of the room angrily. He immediately turns to Nate and Jenna. "You… you two are the biggest assholes on the face of the earth. You Nate… You are nothing but a pompous ass… and you're going bald at sixteen… cute… real cute…. And YOU Jenna…. You…. Are the EPITOME of snotty bitches. You wouldn't know a good person if they walked up to you and bit you on the ASS!" He says as he turns to run out after Charlotte. "OH! And GIVE ME THAT CORSAGE! My mother made it, and you don't even deserve to LOOK AT IT!" He says angrily as he grabs the wrist corsage off of her wrist, shoves it into his jacket pocket and runs out after Charlotte.

  
---------------------------

__

He runs out the door and sees Charlotte walking quickly down the street in her heels, trying desperately to get as far away from the dance as possible. He runs up to her and tries to catch his breath.

"Char…. Char… stop!" He says he catches up to her, she continues to angrily stalk down the road.

"WHAT? WHAT???" She says angrily, her arms flailing in frustration. "What do you want me to say Jackson? WHAT?" She says, tears in her eyes.

"Where are you going?" He asks, grabbing her arm and turning her around to face him.

"I'm going HOME! I am walking HOME! I don't have a car!" She says pushing Jack.

"I don't either." He says. "We can call your dad!"

"Oh, that's a GREAT idea…. 'hi dad, yeah, I got dumped when I got to the prom, you mind coming over to pick me up… oh yeah, can you bring Jackson home too? He's just as PATHETIC!' I AM NOT CALLING MY FATHER!" She screams at him, pushing him again.

"Stop pushing me! I'm trying to help!"

"A lot of help YOU ARE! You just stood there like a MORON while she called me names! You look like a TWIT in that tuxedo!" She says as she reaches up and pulls his bowtie off and throws it into the bushes, and takes off running down the street.

"YOU DID NOT JUST DO THAT!" He screams, running after her. "Get over here!" He says as he catches up to her, he grabs her arm and twirls her around.

"WHAT?"

"I do NOT look like a twit! You look like a dumbass with those ribbons in your hair!" He says as he reaches up and pulls on it, making her hair fall.

"YOU ASS! IT TOOK ME ALL DAY TO GET THAT JUST RIGHT!" She screams. "You look like Peewee Herman with your stupid shirt tucked in like that! She says as she grabs his tuxedo shirt and yanks it out of his pants.

"Well that bow makes you look like a retard!" He says as he pulls on the bow around her dress, ripping it off and throwing it into the bushes.

"Your HAIR LOOKS LIKE SOMEONE PUT A VAT OF FRY GREASE IN IT!" She screams as she ruffled his hair and stepped on his foot with her heels.

"DO NOT touch my HAIR!" He screams. "YOU COULD KILL SOMEONE WITH THOSE SHOES!" He says as he reaches down and grabs her leg one at a time, ripping her heels from her feet.

"DO not throw those shoes! They're my moms!!" She squeals. He hesitates for a second as he glares at her, his eyes blazing in anger. He turns towards the road and turns towards her, and he hurls the heels into the street, watching them get run over by a car.

"OH MY GOD! I AM GOING TO KILL YOU!" She screams as she chases after him down the street. 

Suddenly a car pulls up alongside them. "Are you guys alright?"

"YES!" They both scream angrily.

"Do you need a ride?"

"NO!" They both scream, and continue the chase.

Suddenly, Charlotte catches up to him and hurls herself onto his back. "OW!"

"Now you get to carry me home, asshole." She says gruffly as she wraps her legs around his waist, her arms around his neck.

"We're seriously walking home?" Jack asked as he continued walking down the street. "You live like… three miles from here."

"Keep walking." Was all that Charlotte says.

  
---------------------------

__

9:15-

"Charlotte, we've been walking for like an hour…" Jack says, tired from carrying her.

"He who throws shoes in the road, doesn't get to speak." Charlotte says, ruffling his hair. She looks over to her right as they pass a diner. "I'm hungry." She says, wiggling on his back.

"We are not stopping at a greasy dive to eat." He says as he continues to pass it.

"But its my prom night… I want greasy food… don't you love me?" She whines.

He continues walking a few steps and turns around towards the diner. He carries her to the front door and the cashier stops them.

"Sorry kids, no shoes, no service." She says gruffly.

"Seriously?" Jack asks.

"Seriously."

"Oh." Jack says in resignation. Charlotte sighs in sadness as she buries her head into his shoulder. "Wait!" He says as he reaches down. He pulls off one of his shoes and slips it onto Charlotte's foot. "There! Now we both have shoes on. Can we stay? The sign doesn't say anything about two shoes!"

The woman looks at them in their disheveled, appearance and sighs. "Fine… you can stay. But you have to sit near the back, I don't want to scare away any customers." She says with a laugh.

"That's fine." Jack says, beaming. "Thanks!"

  
---------------------------

__

"What can I get for you two?" The waitress, who is also the cashier asks them.

"Cheesecake." They both say at once.

"Sorry kids, only one piece left." She says, looking down at her pad. 

The two of them look at eachother for a minute and Jack looks up at the waitress. "Actually, I think I'll have the chocolate cake." He says with a smile. The waitress writes it down.

"Me too." Charlotte says with a grin. "I think I want chocolate cake too."

"Ok, two chocolate slices, coming up." The waitress says, smiling at the happy couple.

  
---------------------------

__

10:15- 

After their dessert, Jackson lifted Charlotte onto his back and carried her the rest of the way home. When they got to the house, Jackson walked onto the porch and stopped at the porch swing. "Here we are Malady…" Jackson laughs. He peeks over at his shoulder and sees that Charlotte is sound asleep against his shoulder, a peaceful smile on her face. "Hey sleepyhead." He says as he shifts her a little.

"Mmm… Yacksy…we're home already?" She says sleepily.

"Yes we are." He says as he gently deposits her onto the porch swing. He sits next to her and puts his hand in hers. "Are you going to be alright?"

"Yeah. I'll be fine." She says, looking down at her fingers. She looks up at Jack, his back sweaty, his hair going in all directions. "You look like crap." She says with a smile.

"Well… you look like a princess." He says smiling.

"Princesses don't get left at the prom." She says sadly.

"Charlotte… have you ever cared what anyone thinks of you?"

"No…well… yeah, but only one person…."

"Who is that?"

"I don't wish to divulge that." She says with a sly grin.

"I know that you're someone, and I know that what they said to you hurt you deep in your heart, but I want you to know that I didn't let them get away with it, and I would never let anyone get away with treating you less than as a princess." He says softly, holding her hand. 

"Thanks Yacksy, you're the best." She says smiling. She gives him a hug. "I should probably get inside…my mother is going to be so mad at me."

"Eh, she'll yell at me. She always does." He laughed. "Well, goodnight." He says as he stands up to walk down the porch steps. She stands up and walks towards the door. "Jack." She says softly.

He turns around and smiles at her.

"Will you dance with me? I didn't get to dance tonight." She asks softly.

He doesn't answer, but walks over to her gingerly and gently pulls the corsage, wrinkled and crushed from his jacket pocket. "First, you have to be my date." He holds the corsage out to her. "Charlotte Burke, will you be my date to the prom."

"Sure." She giggles as she accepts the wrist corsage.

He steps back and puts his hand out. He takes her hand in his and bows to her. "May I have this dance?" He says properly.

"You certainly may." Charlotte replies as he pulls her into his arms and they dance to the sound of the crickets in the darkness.

---------------------------

Katie, Izzie and Cristina laugh loudly at the memory. "OH MY GOD! And dad had to go pick him up at your house! HAHA!"

"I almost called the police, I thought they had been attacked!" Cristina says laughing, tears of laughter rolling down their eyes.

"Don't forget to call and check on them tonight when you're on call, Meredith and Derek don't need any more grandchildren!" Izzie laughs, suddenly realizing that the other two weren't laughing anymore. "What? Did I say something wrong?"

"Crap." Cristina says as she got up and sprinted down the hallway.

---------------------------

"Derek, where is your son?" Cristina asks anxiously into the phone.

"I don't know. He doesn't have class today, why?" Derek asked.

"No reason." She says quickly.

"Cristina, what's going on, you're making me nervous." Derek says into the phone.

"What happened last night, with Jacks?"

"You tell ME what happened last night, with Jacks." He replied.

"I'm not worried about last night, I took care of last night, its your turn to take care of what I don't want happening tonight."

"Ok. I can do that…." Derek pauses. "What are we talking about?"

"OH MY GOD! YOU ARE SO CLUELESS!" Cristina screeched into the phone.

"ok, ok… lets start out slowly… I had an argument with Jacks last night, he went to your house, he … ok, that's where I lost you." Derek says.

"I found him and Charlotte on the couch, nice and cozy this morning." Cristina replies.

"Cris, they've been sleeping in the same bed since they were infants."

"Your son was not wearing a shirt, my daughter was not wearing a shirt… come on Derek!" Cristina pleads.

"Uh… ok… so Jacks may or may not have gotten lucky last night. Did you ask him?"

"NO! I AM NOT GOING TO ASK YOUR SON IF HE TOOK ADVANTAGE OF MY…" Cristina notices people staring at her as she screams into her cell phone. "I am not going to ask your son if he took advantage of my daughter!" She whispers furiously into the phone.

Jackson walks into Derek's office. "Oh! Speak of the devil, hang on… let me ask him…" Derek says, looking up at his son, holding the phone away from his ear. "Jack, did you have sex with Charlotte last night?"

"Uh…No…" Jack says, very confused.

Derek lifts the phone to his ear. "They didn't have sex. Stop worrying so much!" Derek says as he hangs up on Cristina. He looks up at Jack. "Hey."

"Where's Mom?"

"I'm not her keeper." Derek says, shuffling some papers on his desk.

"Yes you are, you know where she is at all times. You're like some freaky stalker or something."

"Hmm… or I'm her husband and her boss… What do you want?" Derek asks.

"I want to apologize to her."

"Okay… what time is it?"

"12:45"

"Alright… so she's gonna be… um… 12:45…let me think..."

"Did you page me?" Meredith asks as she sticks her head into the office door.

"Right there!" Derek smiles. "Hey sweetie." Derek says.

Meredith rolls her eyes. "Did you page me just to say hello again?" Meredith asks.

"Maybe…" He gives her a McDreamy smile. 

---------------------------

"Dr. Shepherd, we have a guest here who would like to say a few words to you." Derek said as he stood up.

She glanced over and realized that they weren't the only two in the room. "Jacks!" She said with a smile. She walked over and gave him a hug.

"I'll let you two have your nice little discussion." Derek says, walking over to walk out the door.

Meredith reaches over and grabs him by the lab coat, pulling him to her face. "No, YOU are having the talk."

"Always with the pulling and the grumpiness… never about the kissing and the love." Derek says dropping a kiss on her nose. "Talk with him first, I'll talk with him second. Cristina asked me to say a few words to him, anyway." Derek said with a smirk. "And I'll let you use my office… since it is a LOT bigger than yours." He laughed as he stepped out of his office and closed the door behind him muttering something about supply closets and on-call rooms.

---------------------------

Meredith watched the door close and rolled her eyes. She turned back to Jack and ushered him to the couch. "You wanted to talk?" Meredith says sweetly to her son, who has suddenly become very nervous at the mention of Cristina.

"I wanted to make sure that you were alright." He says sadly, as he sits down. "I didn't mean for you to get hurt, I'm sorry." He says sincerely.

"It's alright, I'm fine. I was more worried about you. Where did you stay last night?"

"Char's, she let me sleep on the couch."

"I'm sure Cristina was overjoyed at seeing you at one in the morning."

"Uh… oh… yeah, I didn't see much of Aunt Cristina until the morning." He said, rubbing his ear nervously.

"Listen. Talk to your dad for me. Try not to get angry with him, he's not really great with the whole 'communication' thing. Don't be so hard on him, he loves you very much. He's just going through a little phase right now, he'll be alright, you'll be alright, I'll be alright. I just have to learn to let you two fight it out sometimes." Meredith replied.

"Like you're going to do right now, after we're done talking?" He asked with a smile.

"Sort of, although you're going to be good, give him what he wants, and let me work on him a little. I can try to make him understand you a little better. He's complicated."

"Yeah, I agree." Jack responded with a grin.

"You're just like him, so I'd hush if I were you. I should get going, I have a surgery in a couple hours, behave yourself. I love you." Meredith says as she stands up and gives Jack a kiss on the cheek. She walks over to the door and opens it quickly, Derek nearly falls inside. "Cut it out." She says with a grin, giggling a little.

"What? It's my office. Its bugged you know."

"Then why do you have your ear on the door?" She laughs.

"Um… checking for termites."

"First of all, your son is waiting for you. Second of all, if you page me again for something other than an emergency, I'm going to kill you, and third of all… your door is made of metal… I'll see you later." She says standing on her tiptoes; she drops a kiss on his lips.

"Love you." He says as he watches her leave the office, he sighs and turns around walking back into his office, closing the door.

---------------------------

Derek walks to his desk and sits down. Jack stays on the couch, the two boys stare at each other intensely.

"So now you're mad at me? A minute ago, you were talking and joking with me, and now you're mad at me?" Jack says, feeling himself getting angrier.

"No. I was always mad at you. I just knew that your mother was coming, can't have her walking in on another one of our fist fights." Derek said angrily.

"I never punched you!" Jack argued.

"You may as well have. Your mother had a pretty nasty bump on her head last night, you're lucky it wasn't a concussion!"

"I told her I was sorry, she shouldn't have gotten in the way!"

"Why? So you could kick my ass? Give me a break Jackson. You don't start fights with your father, you just don't do it. You have to not just 'hear' what I'm telling you, you have to 'LISTEN'. All you care about is what you want, you think that I'm just standing in your way of everything. When you start a fight like that with me, you start a whole chain reaction of fights and arguments, and it looks to me that this time you brought Charlotte and Cristina into the argument as well."

"Charlotte has nothing to do with this!" Jack shouts. Derek doesn't jump at the bait, he just sits there, staring angrily at his son.

"Are you finished?"

"With what?

"Arguing with me. Are you going to let me finish what I was saying?"

"Yes." Jack said, suddenly much quieter.

"What I was going to say, was that you are going to have to get some responsibilities. You have to find a job, pay for your own things, stop expecting hand-outs. You can't spend all of your free time out on the boat, or messing around with your friends, you need to act like an adult. Do you understand where I'm coming from?"

"Yeah." Jack says, looking down.

"Do you really, or are you just trying to agree so that your mother can butter me up later?"

"Both."  
"That's what I thought. I'm glad that you understand, Jack. I love you and I just want you to be responsible, I want you to be able to stand on your own two feet."

"Yeah." Jack says, continuing to look down.

"So what's with all this you and Charlotte naked on a couch talk."

"What?" Jack looks up shocked, blushing.

"NOW you listen?" Derek laughs.

"We weren't naked, we were just sleeping on the couch next to each other. I didn't have my shirt on because I was going to sleep and Charlotte was just with me, trying to make me feel better, she had clothes on."

"I bet she was trying to make you feel better." Derek says under his breath with a sly grin.

"DAD!"

"Sorry. No more sex talk with dad, I get it."

"Whatever. I have to go, I have a few things to do to get ready for tonight." He says as he gets up and heads towards the door. "I'll see you later." Jack says, waving at his father as he opens the door.

"Jack." Derek says, getting his son's attention as he leans back in his chair and puts his hands behind his head. "If it rains tonight… don't forget to wear your rain coat." He says with a sly grin.

"Shut up, Dad." Jack says with a smile as he laughs and closes the door to his father's office.

Derek laughs a little and looks up at the ceiling, lounging back in his chair. Suddenly he sits up and pushes the intercom button for his secretary. "Margaret, can you please page Dr. Shepherd. I um… seem to have lost my stapler, tell her that it's an emergency." He laughs as he sits back again, waiting for Meredith to walk through the door. 

---------------------------

Derek sat waiting, when suddenly the door to his office flew open swiftly and Meredith walks in, slamming the door behind her. She turns and locks the door. "What did I tell you?" She says in mock anger.

"You said… 'I love you Derek, page me anytime'" He says in a high voice, standing up.

"I will not fall for your 'booty call'." She says as she pushes him up against his wall.

"You already have, my dear." Derek says as he grabs her and turns her around so that she is against the wall.

"I have a surgery!" She giggles as he nuzzles her neck.

"Your surgery doesn't start for another hour and a half!" He says as he attempts to lift her scrub top.

She grabs his hands trying to stop him, but they keep moving all over her body. "You're a stalker! I swear!" She giggles.

He finally pulls her scrub top off. "I am not a stalker, I'm your boss… now let me check to see if you have stolen anything off the job… a strip search is necessary, Dr. Shepherd…" He says as he takes his shirt off.

"Why are you taking your clothes off, I thought I was doing the strip search." She giggles.

"I just want to show you that I have nothing to hide…" He says as he gently caresses her body, and sits on the edge of his desk. She puts her arms around his neck and lifts her legs to wrap around his waist as he supports her with his arms and kisses her passionately. He begins to gently go backwards onto his desk when suddenly he gets a look of shock on his face. "Emergency…. Emergency…" He says as his face twisted in pain.

"What…? What's wrong?" Meredith asks, as she tries to maintain her balance.

"I found the goddamned stapler…. We have to get up…." He says, his face twisted in pain.

Meredith can't contain her laughter as she stands up. She is laughing hysterically as he tries to feel his back. She tosses him his shirt and slips hers back on. "Are you ok?" She continues to laugh. He nods "My job here is done. I'll see you later, Chief Gedderwherehewanter"

"Stop calling me that!"

"I love you." She says as she drops a seductive kiss on his lips.

"I love you too." He says with a pout. She walks out the door with a smile as he sits on his desk and sighs. He then turns around, grabs the stapler and throws it against the wall. He turns around and pushes the intercom button.

"Margaret, I'm out of staples." He says.

"I'll page her again, Dr. Shepherd." Her voice comes over the intercom.

"Thanks." And he grins as he sits back down, waiting for her return.

---------------------------

7pm-

Jack stands in the bathroom looking at himself in the mirror. He's wearing a button down shirt and khakis, an ensemble that he's really not used to wearing. He buttons the top button, unbuttons it, tucks it in, un-tucks it.

ding dong

"Shit." He mumbles as he tucks in his shirt, buttons the top button, runs his fingers through his hair and runs downstairs.

He opens it up to reveal Charlotte, standing there in jeans and a tight t-shirt. "What are you wearing?" She asks, giggling.

"Damn it!" He growls as he turns and runs back upstairs.

"Jack! I was kidding!" Charlotte calls to him.

He peeks from around the corner at the top of the stairs, all she can see is his eyes. "Seriously?" He asks.

"Seriously." She says as he starts to walk down the stairs wearily. "Geez, you're acting like a love-sick teenager." She laughs. He turns around and starts to go back up the stairs. "JACKSON!" She laughs. "Get back down here." He stops at the top of the stairs and turns around in a lazy circle and walks slowly and deliberately down the stairs.

"One more word, and I'm staying home, and you're going alone." He says as he reaches the bottom of the steps.

She wraps her arms around his neck and pulls herself closer for a kiss. "That would be a funny first date, wouldn't it?" She says as she kisses him hard on the lips.

Jack takes a step back, breaking the kiss. "Keep kissing like that, and we may not make it out the door." He laughs nervously.

---------------------------

They walk out the door hand in hand. Jack sees his father's car pull up in the driveway and he pulls his hand out of Charlotte's, which immediately gets him a glare. "Really winning me over here, Jacks." Charlotte grumbles as she steps off the porch to greet Derek. "Hey Derek." Charlotte says as she approaches him getting out of the car.

"Hey sweetheart, how are you doing?" Derek says, giving her a hug. "How's school?"

"School's good, I'm doing fine. We're about to go out to dinner, then maybe a movie. We'll see you later." Charlotte says, giving him another hug.

"Have a good time, behave." Derek says as he grabs a bag of groceries out of the back of the car, grinning at his son.

"We will." Jack growled at his father as he put his hand on Charlotte's back, ushering her to the car. "Let's go." He says.

"What's the big hurry?" Charlotte whispers back as she hurries to the car.

"We have to get out of here before he…."

"Hey guys! Why don't you both come over here after your movie, Mer and I would love to catch up with you both. We've been busy lately and haven't really had a chance to get together." Derek calls from the porch.

Jack glares at Charlotte, in an unspoken plead. "Sure! We'll come over right after the movie!" She says grinning widely. "Talk to you later, Derek!" She calls as Jack opens her door for her and pushes her inside.

"Bye… kids…" Derek replies as he watches Jack. "Boy he's pushy tonight…" Derek says to himself.

---------------------------

Jack drives down the road with a scowl on his face. "What was that all about?" Charlotte asks, trying to get him to talk to her.

"Nothing, my father's an ass. We are not going there after the movie." Jack says angrily.

"Come on! I promised your dad!"

"He was just doing it to piss me off." Jack said angrily.

"Well this date is really going off without a hitch, isn't it." Charlotte says, crossing her arms, staring out the windshield angrily.

Jack continues driving, now and then glancing over at Charlotte, feeling guiltier by the minute. He reaches out his hand and places it gently on her leg. She remains stubborn for only a few seconds before she puts her hand on his. His heart begins to race at her touch. "I'm sorry." He whispers. "I'm just not used to this." He says softly.

"You've been on a million dates Jack." Charlotte responds, giving him an incredulous look.

"Maybe so, but never with the one I love." Jack says softly as he lifts his hand from hers and lightly touches her cheek. That four letter word hung in the air like a trapeze artist, Jack waited to see if he would land safely in the net, or fall flat on his face.

He glanced at her for a response, and his heart sank. She recoiled her hand from her lap and put her hands together, fidgeting nervously, her eyes cast down in silence.

---------------------------

"Where did you want to go to dinner?" Jack asks nervously.

"I don't care." Charlotte says, looking out the side window. Jack did all he could to not smack himself in the head for using that 'conversation killer' of all words.

"What movie do you want to go see?" Jack asked.

"I don't know if I much care to see a movie tonight." Charlotte said, her thoughts elsewhere.

"Hey." Jack said, his voice shaky. "I'm sorry, I'll watch it. I couldn't help it, that's just what I was feeling." Jack said, holding his hand out. He glanced at her again. "I'm sorry."

She looked up at him, with her eyes, a playful smile at her lips. She reaches out to hold his hand, and smiles as she looks out the windshield again. "I want Italian for dinner." She says.

"Italian it is!" Jack smiled, as he finally felt at ease, for the first time that evening.

---------------------------

They arrive at the restaurant and Jack opens her car door for her and takes her hand as they are seated. He pulls her seat out for her and they sit and order their dinners. Jack sits across from her, playing nervously with his napkin, not saying anything, while Charlotte watches him.

"Will you stop that!" Charlotte says, grabbing his hand across the table.

"Stop what?" Jack says, looking up.

"Stop acting like you just met me, what is your problem?" Charlotte asked as she squeezed his hand.

Jack's face relaxed as he finally looked her in the eye. "I'm just nervous, I want us to have a good time tonight."

"Then stop acting like a nervous ninny and have a good time. Relax." She says as she kisses his fingers. "Just relax." She says as she does it again.

A smile slowly creeps across his face as he lifts her hands to his lips. "Thank you." He whispers as he kisses her fingers.

---------------------------

Meredith walks into the house with a large paper bag and looks around for Derek. "Derek?"

"In here!" He calls from the kitchen. 

Meredith walks into the kitchen and sees him standing by the sink cutting up vegetables. "What are you making?"

"Just whipping us up a little dinner. What do you have there?" He asks, indicating her bag.

She hands the bag over to him and turns to walk back out of the room. "There's your new staples and stapler, now you don't have to bother me at work!" She giggles and runs out of the room

"You are so going to get it!" He laughs as he puts down what he's doing and chases her into the living room.

---------------------------

Matthew and Katie sit on the couch watching television, Katie with her head in Matthew's lap, waiting for their pizza to arrive.

"Matt?"

"Yeah?"

"This getting married thing…"

"You don't want to do it?" He asks as he grabs her hand, pretending that he's going to take the ring off her.

She pulls her hand back and smacks his leg. "Stop that! I just want to do it right. Things are better with my dad, I'm going to be getting fatter…"

"Not fatter, cut that out. That's my little girl in there you're talking about." Matt says as he reaches over to touch her belly.

"You don't know if it's a girl… can we just get back to what I was saying?" Matt laughs and nods. "I just think we should wait until after the baby is born to get married. What do you think?" She asks, looking up at him. "I want a big party." She smiles.

"You want a big party?" He asks, looking down at her.

"I want a BIG party." She giggles.

"Then we'll have a big party… because I love you."

ding dong

"That's dinner!" Katie says as she swings her legs off the couch and stands up to answer the door.

---------------------------

8:30 pm-

After dinner, Jack and Charlotte decided to take a walk in a nearby park. "So you're sure that you don't want to go to a movie?" Jack asks as he reaches over to hold her hand.

"Movies are boring and impersonal; you can't talk during a movie." Charlotte says shyly as she takes his hand.

"But you can do other things in a movie." Jack says slyly, giving her a smile.

Charlotte playfully smacked him. "You're dirty." She giggles. "Why don't we go back to my house. We can watch some tv and talk there."

"I thought we were going to hang out with my parents…"

"You said your dad was just messing with you, besides, they think we're going to a movie, we could always stop over there after we watch some television."

"Sounds like a plan."

---------------------------

"Dinner was delicious!" Meredith says from the kitchen sink as she washes off their dishes.

"Mmm… thanks." Derek says as he scoops another spoonful of ice cream into his mouth."

"You know… I had the most interesting conversation with Cristina this afternoon." Meredith says, looking over at Derek, who by now is just looking down into his ice cream bowl.

"Hmm… really?" Derek says, "What about?" He asks, avoiding eye contact.

"Something about Jack, Charlotte and you hanging up on her. I think she used the term 'bastard husband of yours'."

"Hmm… sometimes I think she's just gone crazy." He says, taking another bite.

---------------------------

"Ok, we're at my house, now what do you want to do?" Charlotte says as they walk into the living room.

"It was your idea to come here, dummy." Jacks says, looking around.

Charlotte turns around and glares at him. "So this is how you talk to dates? No wonder you're never going out on them!" She snaps at him, giving him a shove.

"Cut it out, dummy." He says, shoving her back.

"Now you're hitting your date? Smooth… real smooth… loser. I'm going up into my room, when you can start behaving yourself, you can come find me." Charlotte says grumpily as she walks past him up the stairs.

"Crap." He mumbles under his breath.

---------------------------

Jack sighed and turned to sit on the couch. He flipped on the television and put the sound on mute, flipping through the channels, hoping that Charlotte would come back downstairs. He hears her bedroom door open.

"JACKSON! TURN OFF THE TELEVISION AND GET YOUR ASS UP HERE!" She screams from the top of the stairs, making Jack jump. He walks to the end of the stairs and looks up. She's standing at the top of the stairs with her hands on her hips. "Well?" she say softly.

"Is that any way to talk to your date? I'm going to watch television until you apologize" He says, with a smile as he turns to walk away.

Charlotte runs down the stairs and just as he is getting to the couch, she leaps onto his back, wrapping her legs around his waist. "Take me into the kitchen."

"What? Get off of me, you pain." He says laughing.

"Take me into the kitchen, let's go!" She says, giving him a little kick with her foot.

"Watch it!" He says as he walks into the kitchen.

"That cupboard there!" She says, pointing to the hutch in the corner. "Open it up."

He opens it up to reveal a plethora of liquors. "Choose your poison, and let's go watch television in my room!"

"We are NOT drinking." Jack says to her as he carefully lets her off his back.

"Why not? Its there, it should be consumed! Come on! It'll be fun!" She exclaims.

"You're not old enough to drink." Jack says, looking at her seriously.

"Shut up, dumbass. I'll be old enough soon, its not like it makes a big difference. Just grab something and let's go."

"You're mother is going to kill us."

"Correction. My mother will kill YOU." She says as she grabs a bottle of tequila and a bottle of vodka and skips upstairs.

"Why do I do this to myself?" Jack says as he grabs a couple of bottles and runs upstairs after her. 

---------------------------

Jack and Charlotte sit down on the floor in the bedroom and Charlotte turns the television on, she flips through the channels until she finds a sitcom. She turns to Jack and stands up, spreads his legs and sits in between his legs with her head on his chest and her arms on his legs to watch the television.

"You could have asked." He says, flipping her hair with his hand.

"Hush." She says, swatting at his hand. "I'm watching."

"You're a crappy first date, you know that?" Jack says. "OW! Don't pinch!"

"Then don't call me crappy, now hush." She says as she continues to watch the television. After a little while, Charlotte turned around so that she was sitting face to face, she opened her dresser drawer and pulled out two shot glasses.

"You've done this before?" Jack asks, raising his eyebrows.

"I have not, they're from a gift shop, ass. What's your pleasure?" She says, looking at the variety of bottles on the floor of her bedroom. She looks at him and he grins at her devilishly. She swats at his chest, "You pig. What do you want to drink?"

"Give me some tequila." He says smiling. She handed him a shot glass and she poured the tequila inside. "Now take this." He said, giving her the shot glass. "That's for you." He grabbed the bottle from her. "This is for me." He says as he takes a large drink from the bottle. Charlotte giggled at him as she downed her shot like a pro.

---------------------------

Two hours and several bottles of liquor later, Charlotte and Jack lay sprawled on the bed, with their heads on opposite sides of the bed, talking about various things.

"And then…" Charlotte giggles. "And then…" She giggles again.

"You SO forgot what you were going to say, didn't you?" Jack starts to laugh hysterically.

"I did not forget!" Charlotte slurs as she starts to get up, she bursts into a fit of giggles and falls back down on the bed. "And then I forgot what I was going to say!" Charlotte laughs even harder.

"Hey… hey… why don't we go downstairs and get us a snack, I'm hungry." Jack says as he crawls around, putting his head on her chest, lying partially on top of her.

"You're always hungry, silly cute boy." Charlotte says as she runs her fingers through his hair.

Jack is quiet for a little while, enjoying the feeling of her fingers running through his hair. "Why'd you kiss me yesterday?" Jack said, his heart leaping at the thought of feeling her lips on his. "Charlotte Burke kissed me yesterday and she won't tell me that she loves me, even though I know its true." He mumbles out loud.

She traces her finger around his ear and through his hair. "How do you know its true?" She asks, as she pulls him even closer to her.

"Because of the way you look at me, and the way you take care of me. You smile for me, you laugh for me, you cry for me, you yell at me, you talk so sweetly to me. That's love Charlotte, you love me… you do…" He trails off.

"I don't want to talk about this." Charlotte grumbles as she pushes him off of her. "I don't want to talk about this, I don't want to talk about this, I don't…." Her voice was stopped by Jacks mouth coming down on hers in a passionate kiss. He reaches down and puts his hands under her shirt, pulling it up over her head as he caresses her body with his hands as he lay on top of her.

She reached down and pulled his shirt off, running her fingers across his bare chest as he kissed her deeply. Her fingers fumbled with his jeans as he continued to touch her shoulders, her neck, putting his lips on her breast, sending her into gasps of pleasure. She found the top of his boxers and playfully tugged at the elastic band as she slipped her finger between his bare stomach and the cotton material.

Jack, not expecting her touch jumps at the feeling of electricity and rolls too quickly to his left, sending him careening to the ground onto his back with a loud thud.

"OW! GODDAMN IT!" He yells as his head hits the ground. Charlotte remains on the bed laughing hysterically. "Its not funny, stop laughing! Stop laughing!" He yells at her, his face becoming increasingly red. "You never listen to me!" Jack said as he carefully got to his feet and crawled up onto the bed, landing heavily on top of her. He held her arms to her side as he began to kiss her passionately on the lips. "Tell me that you love me, or you don't get me. Tell me!" He says forcefully, his blue eyes passionate and dark.

"Jack you know that I do." Charlotte teased, a smile playing across her face.

"Tell me then. Tell me, or I can't kiss you again." He says, withdrawing his lips from hers.

"Just tell him so that he can get off of you." The voice said from the doorway. Giving Charlotte reason to jump, causing Jack to once again roll off of the bed onto the floor.

---------------------------

"MOM!" Charlotte yells, frantically looking for her shirt.

"Don't you 'mom' me." Cristina says calmly. "Jackson, stand up. STAND UP NOW!" Jack jumps at the sound of her raised voice. Jack jumped up quickly and wobbly walked towards the doorway.

"YOU can't tell us what to do! We're ADULTS! We can do whatever we goddamned PLEASE!" Jack screamed, his eyes still dark with passion. "If you don't mind! We need to get dressed so that we can get the hell out of here!" He screams as he puts his hand out and gently pushes Cristina into the hallway, he then slams the door in her face. He stands there in shock for several seconds as he stares at his hands. He turns around and looks at Charlotte, who is just as equally shocked. "Holy CRAP! Did I just do what I think I just did?" Jack says to himself, he watches as Charlotte slowly nods as he passes out onto the bed.

---------------------------

He could feel the cool grass on his face, the cold fall air brushing across his bare back as he listened to the muffled voices above him. They were shouting, angry voices screaming about tequila and sex and naked and… "Shit." Was all that Jack could think as he closed his eyes tighter, the pain in the back of his head feeling sharper and more painful by the second. He could feel a sharp pain in his right side. "Scratch marks? What the hell happened?" He thought to himself as he continued to listen to the voices. It was his father, he was screaming at Cristina. Screaming about stairs and possible head injury and dragging. What? What was he saying? "Who cares." Jack thought, "I'll worry about that in the morning." 

Cristina's turn to yell. "Did she just say that I can never see Charlotte again? Shit, I really screwed up, I really, really screwed up. The only thing worse would be to go home with him. Please. Please don't make me go home with him." Jack thought to himself, suddenly being lifted from the ground by his father and gently set into the back of the car. "Shit." Was the last thought that came to his mind before he passed out again.

---------------------------

4 am-

Jack woke up, half naked on the couch. He had a splitting headache and a bandage around his head. He slowly lifted his head as a rush of bile lifted into his throat. He lay his head back down and the nauseous feeling subsided. He had only one thought on his mind. Charlotte. Okay, maybe two thoughts. Cristina.

"Shit." He says out loud as his momentum gets the best of him and he rolls onto the floor with a thud. "Double Shit." He mumbles as he begins to feel his stomach gurgling. He lies on the ground for several moments before he holds his breath and works up the energy to sit up. He looks at the clock and sees that his parents will both be getting up in two hours for work. "Triple Shit." He mumbles as he puts his hands on the couch in an attempt to stand up. He stands up unsteadily and slowly and looks around the room.

He grabs his t-shirt from the pile of clothes in the corner and slowly put the t-shirt on. He felt a little better, but his head was aching horribly. He felt the bandage on his head and could feel the large bump forming in the back and could feel the dampness of blood soaking through slightly. 

He limped towards the front door and glanced up the stairs towards his parent's bedroom, and happy that all lights were off and there were no sounds, he opened the door and stepped outside. 

He slowly made it down the steps into the cool pre-dawn air and shivered a little as he made his way down the long, winding path to the woods. He climbed through the bramble of the old path and around 'two bends, three rocks and a stump shaped like a heart' to his favorite spot in the world. He sighed in resignation as he sat beside the cool water of his 'secret place' and put his head in his hands as his silent tears began to fall.

"You know that I love you." Her voice made him jump, but he suddenly felt strangely calm.

"Why do you always have to come around and ruin a perfectly good cry?" Jack whispered.

"Because you should never have to cry alone, even if you want to." Charlotte whispered as she sat beside him in her spot. A place that he held for her every summer afternoon when they were kids, looking out on the pond. She gently pulled his head into her lap and ran her fingers through his hair as he sobbed quietly into her.

---------------------------

Charlotte sat with him for almost an hour with him crying. Her heart was breaking seeing him in such despair. "Are you going to talk to me, or are you going to continue to just make my lap wet?" She joked, trying to get him to cheer up a little.

"I don't want to talk about it." Jack sniffled as he sat up, bringing his knees to his chest and wrapping his arms around them.

"Come on, talk to me. You will eventually, you may as well just start now." She says, reaching over to take his hand.

"Why does everything have to be so goddamned complicated? If my stupid father would let me live in that house, then you and I could have some privacy. I hate being in my parent's house, I just want to be on my own. I want to come and go as I please and not worry about whether or not my father is going to have to bail me out of something." Jack said angrily, throwing a small stone into the water.

"I don't mean to be the bearer of obvious news Jacks, but they own that house too." Charlotte say, giving his hand a squeeze.

"Yeah? Well they're not there! I am so sick of arguing with them, having stupid little talks, I just want to get away, I don't want to be here anymore Charlotte, I don't. I am so stupid. I am just so goddamned stupid. I'm sorry that I got you in trouble with your mother." Jack says quietly.

"It's fine. I can handle my mother. Though I was very upset at how she dealt with the situation. She didn't have to drag you out of the house, that was completely unnecessary. I did have a good time with you Jacks, I always have a good time with you. I just wish it didn't end up like that." She whispered, reaching up to touch his bandage. "Does it hurt a lot?" She asked, touching it lightly.

"Like you wouldn't believe." Jack said with a sigh, as he lay down in the grass on his side.

"I hate it when you hurt. It breaks my heart." Charlotte whispered. "I love you so much." Charlotte lies down and turns around, pushing her back into him, so that she is nestled against him, he carefully puts his arm around her and buries his face in her hair as they lie there in the grass, letting thousands of unsaid words pass between them.

---------------------------

10pm-

_  
::plink::_

::plink plink::

Eight year-old Charlotte knew what that sound was. She slowly walked to the window and peeked down. She opened the window to reveal Jackson standing below, motioning for her to come down.

"What?" She whispered down, realizing that he was obviously upset about something. "I'll be right down." She whispers and closes the window. She slips on some shorts and throws on a t-shirt and sandals and she peeks out her bedroom door. Both of her parents were at work, the babysitter was busy talking to someone on the telephone. She slipped quietly down the stairs and out the door, closing it behind her. She got out onto the porch and hopped down the steps to Jackson. "What's wrong Jacks?"

"I'm running away from home." He said solemnly, his blue eyes sad.

"Ok. I'll see you tomorrow in school!" She said as she gave him a hug and turned around.

"No, Charlotte! I'm running away from home! When you run away from home, you don't go to school. I want you to come with me." Jackson said taking her hand.

"I can't! I have school! I have perfect attendance!" She smiled proudly. "Why are you running away from home, anyway?"

"My dad is a jerk. Some kid at school said that I pushed him into the wall and broke his glasses yesterday and his mom called my dad to tell on me. My dad says that I can't go to baseball tryouts now." Jack said sadly.

"Did you push the kid and break his glasses?" Charlotte asks

"Duh. Of course I did. But he deserved it! My dad didn't ask me if he deserved it!"

"Who was it?"

"Stinky Sherman Robards."

"He was picking on me all day yesterday. He is a jerk! I should have pushed him. Why did you push him?"

Jackson paused for a second and looked at his companion for a second, her eyes were so inquisitive and she always had a follow-up question for his answers, it made him smile. "Because he picks on people, and people that do that should be taught a lesson!" He says. "Are you going with me or not?" Jackson asked as he reached out his hand.

Charlotte yawned and stared into his eyes for a moment, she reached her hand out and took his. "Fine, I'll run away with you, but we have to be home in time for school, I have perfect attendance!" She giggles.

"So I've heard." Jack says as he rolls his eyes and walks down the sidewalk hand in hand with his best friend.

Charlotte rolled over in her place on the grass and looked at her now sleeping best friend. His chest rising and falling with each breath, a small contented smile on his face. She reached over and gently kissed his lips. "Thanks for always sticking up for me." She whispered softly.

She let out a giggle when he reached over and pulled her on top of him for a deeper kiss, not caring for a moment about the awful headache that he had. "Always." He whispered.

---------------------------

6:00 am-

Meredith walked slowly down the stairs and peeked into the living room. The blanket that she had placed on her son was pulled to the side, and he was nowhere in sight.

"Derek, he's gone." Meredith called upstairs. Derek walked down the stairs behind her.

"He's gone? He'll turn up somewhere, he's probably upset. I'll catch up to him sometime." Derek said with a hint of anger as he sat on the couch and began to put his socks on."

"Don't yell at him." Meredith says as she turns to walk out of the room.

"What? What do you mean, don't yell at him? I am pissed at him, of COURSE I'm going to yell at him!" Derek said angrily.

"Just don't yell at him. I'm sure he's beating himself up enough, he doesn't need you to help." Meredith said.

"You always ruin my fun." Derek pouted.

"Why don't you go to work, I'm going to stay here and wait for him. I don't want him wandering too far with a head injury. Don't worry, I'll talk to him."

::Phone rings::

Derek picks up the receiver. "Hello?"

"WHERE THE HELL IS SHE?" Cristina fumes from the other line.

Derek pulled the phone from his ear and hands the phone to Meredith. "I think its for you." He says as she takes the receiver and turns and walks away.

---------------------------

"Cristina. Calm down." Meredith said softly into the phone as she walked into the kitchen, glaring at Derek, who shrugged with a smug grin as he followed her. She listened for a few more seconds. "Ok. That's fine." Meredith said as she hung up the phone as Derek entered the room.

"What? You're off the phone already? No…. 'I'm going to kill your son', No…. 'My daughter is too good for your boy'…. What is this world coming to?" Derek asked, shaking his head with a grin.

"I'm having lunch with her this afternoon."

"Ahh… so the showdown begins." Derek smiles.

"I'm bringing the kids."

"Even better, can I come?"

"Shut up and go to work. You do work, don't you?" Meredith asks, handing him his thermos and shoving him out the kitchen door.

"I work!" He says as he turns and kisses her lips as she shoves him out the front door.

"Bye!" She says as he lingers on the porch for a second, giving her a half smile.

"Bye. Bossy McBoss. See you on the flip side." He giggles as he walks to the car.

Meredith rolls her eyes and stands on the end of the porch as she watches him get into the car, waving as he drives off to work.

---------------------------

Charlotte and Jackson continued to hold one another under the rising sun.

"Hey." Jack sighed softly, looking down at her.

She looked up at him and gave him a little smile. "Hey. Do you want to go back now? My mother probably figured out that I was missing by now." She whispered.

"What? You didn't tell her you were leaving? Are you kidding me?" Jack says, sitting up too quickly, his head wavers and his stomach begins to churn at the quick movement. He groans as he lays back down.

"Jack, are you alright?" She asks, sitting up, touching his forehead lightly.

"No, I'm not alright. Your mother almost killed me last night, and now she's going to finish the job today. I'm not alright." He grumbled as he rolled to his side, facing away from her. "What were you thinking Charlotte? Really!" Jack said angrily.

Charlotte stood up quickly and looked down at him. "I was thinking that I was coming back here to tell you how I feel. Maybe that was a mistake, you ungrateful piece of crap!" Charlotte says as she begins to walk away. He reaches out and grabs her leg. "Ow! Let me go!" She yells, his grip not loosening.

"No. You have to stay here with me." He mumbled as he held tightly to her leg.

"Let go of me, you jerk!" She said as she wiggled her foot, trying to get away, he just continued to pull her. "Jack!" She giggles as she loses her balance and falls on him.

"Ow, that hurt! I deserved that." Jack said as she landed on him hard. "Let's get out of here, but you have to promise me one thing."

"What?"

"When your mother kills me, will you bury my body out here on this spot?" Jack asked sincerely. 

"Yeah, dummy, I'll bury your body right here, now get your butt up and let's go." She laughs as she helps him up. He stands up and bends down to give her a light kiss on her lips before they make their way out of the woods together.

---------------------------

Meredith sat on her front porch, dressed in her scrubs, her hair tied back in a ponytail as she looked out onto her property. She saw movement out of the corner of her eye and watched as her son and his companion walked slowly out of the woods hand in hand. She watched them slowly approach, each leaning on one another for support. They looked exhausted, and sad as they approached the house, they were oblivious to the fact that they were being watched. They walked slowly towards Jack's car.

"Where are you two going?" Meredith asked softly, noticing both of them jump at the sound of her voice. "Hey, I'm sorry. Where are you going?" Meredith asked again.

They turned around and looked at Meredith with just the most exhausted expressions she could have ever imagined on two people. "I was going to take Charlotte home." Jack says, his voice raspy and dry, the bandage on his head was dirty and hanging loosely.

"Charlotte, your mother knows you're here, you don't have to rush home. Why don't you both go into the house and clean up. Take a nap, and meet me and Cristina for lunch?" Meredith asked, walking to her son and checking his bandage.

"I don't think that it would be such a…"

"I don't remember asking you if it was alright. Go in, clean up, take a nap and meet us at the bistro down the street from the hospital. Got it?" Meredith says.

Jack and Charlotte share a glance and nod.

"I have to go into work for a little while. I'll meet you there at 1. Don't make me come looking for you two." She says as she gives Jack and Charlotte each a kiss on the cheek and heads for the car.

They wave as they watch Meredith make her way down the driveway, Jack turns to Charlotte. "Was it just me, or did she seem eerily calm?" Jack asked, his eyes squinting in confusion.

"Very eerie." Charlotte responds. "Way too calm."

"Let's go inside. Doctor's orders." Jack says as he takes her hand and leads her slowly into the house.

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Jack and Charlotte arrived at the bistro at a little after 1. They had showered and napped and had decided together that they were glad that they were meeting their mothers in a crowded bistro at lunch time instead of somewhere quiet and secluded where they could be reamed out, though Jack knew that there was no place too crowded for Cristina to yell in.

They peeked in the window of the bistro. "Well, they're laughing. That's a good sign, right?" Jack asked.

"Don't be such a pussy." Charlotte says as she pushes him through the door.

They walked into the bistro and stood at the table where Meredith and Cristina were smiling and laughing, their facial expressions turn immediately serious. "Sit down." Cristina says to the two of them, they sit down immediately, without saying a word.

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The four of them sit in an uncomfortable silence for several minutes. They don't say anything except to order their food. Cristina sits and eyes Jack the entire time, Charlotte's expression passes between Jack and her mother and Meredith just seems amused at the whole situation.

"I'm sorry that I kicked you." Cristina said, finally.

"What?" Jack said.

"Shut up, I'm not finished. I'm sorry that I kicked you, I'm sorry that I dragged you down the stairs and I'm sorry that I slammed the door on your head before you were out the door completely." Cristina mumbled.

"But…"

"I am apologizing, take it or leave it. Now do you have something to say for yourself?"

"Uh…" Jack stutters, looking between his mother and Charlotte for an answer, finding none.

"I'm sorry." He says, simply.

"For what?" Cristina says, her face still stern.

Jack takes Charlotte's hand for a little strength as he swallows hard. "I'm sorry for anything that I have ever done to make you livid, angry, pissed, or even mildly irritated. But I'm not sorry for loving Charlotte." He said softly.

Cristina stared at him, the stern expression not leaving her face. She stared at him long and hard, his eyes never moving from hers, it was a war of wills and Cristina seemed to have met her match. Suddenly the waitress came and broke the stare off as Cristina looked up at her, she looked back at Jack and he was still watching her.

"We'll talk more after we've eaten." Meredith says, finishing Cristina's thought as the waitress hands each person their meal.

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The four of them eat their lunch, Jack now and then looks up at Charlotte and smiles. This doesn't go unnoticed by Meredith, who smiles at her son's happiness. Cristina on the other hand concentrates on her lunch and stabs at her salad as if she is trying to kill it.

"Ground rules." Cristina says, without looking up. "We need ground rules." She says gruffly.

"Ground rules." Jack repeats.

"Ground rules?" Charlotte asks.

"No sex in my house, no underage drinking in my house, if you want to talk to my daughter, you will knock on my door at normal hours of the day. Those are ground rules, and I will add to them as I see fit." Cristina says as she pushes her salad away from herself.

"That's it?" Jack says. "You're not going to tell me that I can't see her, to leave her alone, to never speak to her again as long as I live?" Jack asks.

"My daughter is old enough, and I hope smart enough to make important decisions on her own. These ground rules are so that I feel comfortable. I know you Jacks and I know that you two have always loved one another. I have no right to stand in the way of that, but I will not feel uncomfortable in my own house. I expect you to treat her with respect and honor, just as I know you will. I trust you both." Cristina says to the two of them. 

Suddenly, Cristina's pager goes off. "Shit, I have to go. Thanks for the lunch Mer!" Cristina says as she jumps out of her chair and gives Meredith a hug. "You two behave now." Cristina says as she turns and runs out of the restaurant.

The table is silent for several minutes as Charlotte breaks the silence. "Is it just me or has 'the beast' lost her edge?" She says laughing a little making Meredith and Jack laugh as well. 

---------------------------

Derek continues with the surgery he is performing, thinking now and then to Meredith's whereabouts.

"Tell me something." He hears the melodic sound of her voice coming from the intercom above him in the gallery. He glances up for a second, and smiles under his mask, seeing Jack and Charlotte with her. The nurse instinctively turns his intercom on.

"Did you know that In older people, memory is best early in the morning and then declines during the late afternoon?" Derek responds as he continues the surgery.

"Really? Where did you hear that?" Meredith giggles.

"I can't remember, ask me tomorrow morning." He laughs, smiling wider after hearing her laugh over the intercom. "I noticed that the strong have survived." He says, indicating Jack and Charlotte.

"For now." Meredith responds. "I really haven't gotten my hands on them completely, yet."

"Don't do that too much, from what I know about those two, they're very sticky." Derek responds with a laugh.

"I'll try to remember that." Meredith giggles. "I'm going to go now, have a good afternoon. I love you." Meredith says as she clicks off her microphone.

"Love you back." He responds, looking up at her with a grin as he watches her blow him a kiss and turn to leave the gallery. He turns to the scrub nurse. "What are you smiling at?" He teases.


	46. Chapter 46

Chapter 46-

November 20th, 2031.

"No." Katie says, simply.

"Why not?" Matthew asks.

"Because I said so." Katie replies.

"Katie! They're my parents!" Matthew complains.

"Did you hear what I said?"

"You said no."

"Ok, so what do you think the answer is?"

"Maybe?"

"NO! The answer is NO! Your parents can NOT stay with us for Thanksgiving!"

"Why not?"

"Because I don't want to have Thanksgiving here! I just want you and I to be together, alone!"

"But I already told them that they could come."

"AAARRGGHH!!" **::SLAM::**

"Shit."

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Wednesday, November 26th 2031-

"I can't believe I agreed to this!" Katie says as she brings the spare blankets from the closet up to the spare bedroom.

"Technically, you didn't agree to it." Matthew says as he helps her make the spare bed. Katie stands with her hands on her hips, giving him a dirty look. "Ok, I'll be quiet. Come on, its only a couple nights. Do you hate my parents or something?"

"No, I don't hate your parents, or something. I just thought that instead of going to a dinner that involved half of Seattle, that we could have our own, private Thanksgiving together. Our first Thanksgiving together, because you know that once this baby is born, there is no way that we'll get away with it. You ruined that. Thanks." Katie says as she walks past him out the door.

"Stupid hormones." Matthew mutters.

"What did you just say?" Katie asks angrily, coming back into the room.

"I said 'Stupid hormones'." Matthew repeats.

Katie glares at him for a second, and her expression softens. "Thank you for being honest." She says as she turns, leaving the room.

"That was easy." Matthew mumbles to himself.

"What was that?" Katie calls from the hallway.

"I said, ' I feel queasy'"

"UH huh…." Katie mumbles. "Ass."

"I heard that!" Matthew laughs, coming up behind her, giving her a kiss on the cheek.

"I said that!" Katie shoots back, turning her head for a kiss on the lips.

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"Your parents are here!" Matt called from the living room.

"Why are they here? Don't they have something other to do than harass us?" Katie asked, throwing a dishcloth into the sink.

"Sweetheart, they're here to see my parents when they get here. At least 'they' are happy to see my parents, you're such a big baby." Matt says, walking into the kitchen, coming up behind her. He brushes his lips on her neck, she giggles as she shrugs him off.

"You're mean to me, I'm going to trade you in for a better version." She giggles as she turns around and puts her arms around his neck.

"You can't." He smiles, dropping a kiss on her nose.

"Why is that?"

"You've already broken me in, imagine twenty or so good years of work all gone to waste. Nope, you're stuck with me." He smiles when she sticks her tongue out at him as the doorbell rings. "I'll go get the door."

"You do that." She giggles.

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"Hey Meredith, Derek. Come on in." Matthew says as he opens the door for them. "Katie will be right in, she's in the kitchen. My parents should be here shortly."

Katie walks in from the kitchen. "Hi!" She smiles as she gives her mother and father both a hug. 

"It was very nice of you to offer that we all get together at your house tomorrow, Matthew. It'll make it a lot easier for everyone to get here." Meredith says as Derek helps her with her coat.

"Oh, it wasn't a problem, I am just glad everyone said they could make it."

"You, what?" Katie asks.

"I told… Hey! I think my parents are here." Matt says, giving Katie a devilish grin as he walks over to the window. "Nope. Not yet, boy they're running behind. Why don't we all sit down, I'll get us something to drink." Matt says as he starts to walk away, Katie following his every move with an icy glare.

Meredith reached out and touched her shoulder. "Its ok sweetheart, it gets better." Katie's icy glare is then directed at her mother.

"I'll be right back, make yourselves at home." Katie says, waving her arm towards the couch as she stalks into the kitchen. "MATTHEW!" She squeals as she enters the kitchen.

He turns around walks over to her and plants a kiss on her lips. "Just trust me. You won't have to lift a finger. Now go." He says, turning her around.

"Matthew!" She says a little softer, still frustrated as he gives her a little shove out of the kitchen, her mumbling under her breath the whole way.

"Geez, hormones." He mumbles.

"I heard that!" Katie calls from the living room.

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Matt brought the drinks to their guests and Katie and sat and visited until Mark and Rebecca came to the door. The doorbell rang and Matt jumped up to go get it.

"What's wrong, Katherine?" Meredith whispered to Katie across the coffee table.

Katie leaned over. "He never asked me if they could stay here, I don't want guests, I don't want Thanksgiving here tomorrow. I don't want to see ANYONE tomorrow… I just want to sleep!" Katie whispered furiously back.

Derek leaned forward between the two of them. "God, Meredith, I don't miss you being pregnant one bit." Derek grinned as both women threw him an icy stare. "What? I didn't say anything…. Mark!" Derek says, standing up to shake Mark's hand "It's been quite a while, how have you been?" Katie and Meredith continue to give Derek glares until Rebecca enters the room.

"Rebecca!" Meredith exclaims as she hurries to give her friend a welcoming hug. "It's so great to see you!" They greet one another as Katie stands back awkwardly, throwing a pleading glance to Matthew. Matt comes over and wraps his arms around her from behind, kissing her neck softly as their parents talk and keep eachother's attention.

"See, its not so bad." He whispers softly in her ear.

She smiles and looks up at him. "They're distracted right now." She whispers back with a sly grin.

"No whispering!" Rebecca says as she runs over to give Katie a big hug, Katie rolls her eyes at her mother as Meredith makes a face at her, making her smile. "It has been too long little girl. Look at you! You are showing already! How far along are you now?"

"Eleven weeks." Katie says, instinctively rubbing her belly.

"Oh! It won't be long!" Rebecca says excitedly. "I bet you're so excited!"

"Ecstatic." Katie deadpans, getting a poke from Matt. "We're really excited." She says, looking back at Matt with a slight glare.

"Let's all sit down and catch up!" Matt says as he takes Katie's hand and leads her over to an armchair. He sits down and lets her sit on his lap.

"You won't be doing that for much longer!" Rebecca giggles.

Katie pinches Matt's leg.

"Ow!" He yelps, everyone looks over at him. "Sorry, leg cramp." He replies. When everyone resumes talking once again, Matt gives Katie a grin as she scowls at him.

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The parents visited with one another and had an early night, figuring that they were going to have an early morning getting prepared for the meal in the morning. Katie excused herself and went to bed after she kissed Meredith and Derek goodnight and said goodbye to Mark and Rebecca. Matthew saw them to the door and said goodnight to his parents and climbed the stairs to his and Katie's bedroom. He sees her lying on her side, sleeping. He shuts the light off and quietly slips in next to her.

"Your mother called me fat." Katie mumbles

"She did not call you fat!" Matthew whispers back to her.

"She did too, didn't you hear her?" Katie says, rolling onto her back. "Soon you wont be able to that." Katie says in a mocking tone.

"First of all, my mother does NOT sound like that. Second of all, she didn't mean because you'd be fat. She meant you are pregnant."

"And fat."

"Not fat, beautiful."

"You just want some."

"Some of what?"

"Some of me, you want me." She giggles.

"No I don't. My parents are in the room next door."

"So?" 

"So I'm not having sex in my parent's former house, with them in the room next door."

"I don't care." Katie says, looking over at him.

"Well I do." Matt says, glancing over at her.

They sit there for several minutes in silence, staring at the ceiling, the occasional throat clearing, a little bit of shifting on the mattress.

"Matt."

"Yes?"

"She said that I was fat."

"Stop that!"

"No, she did, and it hurt my feelings, you have to make love to me and make it up to me."

"No."

"Fine."

"Fine." He replied.

They sit there for several more minutes in silence, again staring at the ceiling.

"Matt?"

"What?"

"She also said that my coffee tasted stale."

"Oh my GOD! I am going to kill you!" Matt says as he rolls over. "You have been nothing but MISERABLE for the past week! What do I have to do to shut you up?"

"Make love to me."

"No."

"Fine."

"Fine. He replied.

They sit there for several more minutes of silence, Matt on his side facing Katie, Katie on her side facing the wall. Matt reaches over and gently rubs her arm, giving her goose bumps. He brings his fingers up her arm to her shoulder and lightly runs it along her neck. He shifts closer to her and begins to slowly kiss her neck.

"What do you think you're doing?" Katie asks, as she gives him better access to her neck.

"Kissing my girl." He says, making her giggle.

"Matthew, your parents are in the next room." She says, moving away from him a little, giggling.

Matt flipped her over and began to kiss her hungrily. "Who cares, they called you fat." He said as he straddled her and began to kiss her passionately, sending her into squeals of giggles, only making him kiss her harder and more passionately. "I love you so much." He said between kisses.

"I love YOU!" She screeches as he buries his head in her neck and kisses her hard, causing her to squeal loudly as they make love throughout the night.

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7:00 am

The next morning, Katie and Matthew woke with big smiles on their faces and bags under their eyes. They walked down the stairs and Meredith and Izzie were already downstairs preparing for the large group of people that were coming to dinner.

"Matty, get in here, we're going to need your help soon." Meredith called him into the kitchen.

"Coming, Mer." Matt calls out as he scoops Katie into his arms with a squeal. "You rest on the couch princess, I'll take care of everything today. You are not to worry about one little thing." He says as he drops a kiss on her cheek and sets her on the couch.

"Seriously?" Katie asks, looking up at him from her spot on the couch.

He hands her a big water bottle that Meredith had left out for her and smiles, happiness just radiating off him. "Seriously." She says as he bends over and kisses her on the lips. "Now, you just behave when my parents get up." Matt says, his face flushing.

"You're blushing!" Katie points out, pulling on his shirt for another kiss.

"Don't you two think you had enough of that last night?" Mark says from behind them, making the two of them giggle.

"Sorry. Did we keep you up?" Katie giggles.

"Just a little." He says with a sarcastic glare, holding up his fingers. "Where's Derek?" Mark asks, being joined by a very tired looking Rebecca.

"Dad? Oh, he sleeps in on Thanksgiving. Same with Jackson. That's why they never have Thanksgiving dinner over there, so that they can sleep in. My mom and Izzie are in the kitchen. We'll be joined by everyone else a little later, when dinner is ready." Katie says with a smile as the grumbling Sloan's made their way to the kitchen for some coffee.

As soon as they were out of earshot, Katie and Matt began to laugh. "I think they're really mad at us." Katie says laughing very hard.

"I don't care, I had a lot of fun with you last night. You rest, I will go help in the kitchen. Don't get in trouble while I'm gone." He smiles as he kisses her on the lips again.

"I'll wait for you before I get into trouble." Katie said with a laugh as she watches Matt go off into the kitchen.

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12pm-

"Don't forget to behave, Jackson. Preston will be here tonight, and I don't want any more friction between you two then there already is." Derek says to his son as they stand outside the house, preparing to go inside.

"No dad, Charlotte and I were just going to get naked on the living room floor in front of everyone. You always ruin our fun." Jack deadpans.

"Stop being a smartass."

"What? Preston comes to town last week for the holidays and I haven't seen my girlfriend since. I'm a little upset that you think that I am going to do something to, first of all, risk my life and limb, and second of all, to embarrass you. We're adults, I wish you would start treating us that way." Jack says angrily.

"Don't you dare go into this house angry, young man. Change the attitude right now."

"You know what? That's just it dad. I'm not a young man, I'm an adult. This is so stupid, I can't believe I'm having this conversation with you!" Jack says as he storms into the house.

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Jackson storms into the house and kicks his shoes off, he walks angrily to the couch and sits down without looking.

"Hey! I'm laying here!" Katie says, kicking Jack.

"Don't even start with me." Jack says, his eyes blazing in anger.

"What's got your panties all in a bunch? Charlotte withholding sex?" Katie giggles, not expecting Jacks reaction, he reaches out and slugs her on the arm. "OW! You son of a BITCH!" Katie screams, lunging at him. Derek comes into the room just in time to see Jack punch his sister and runs to grab his daughter. He holds her back with her struggling to get to him.

"Get out. Go take a walk somewhere and cool off. Yelling at me is one thing, but hitting a pregnant woman is something totally different. Get OUT Jackson." Derek growls.

"You deserved more than just that!" He snaps at Katie as he turns and walks out, grabbing his shoes and leaving the house, slamming the door behind him.

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Derek holds Katie back for a few more seconds before he lets her go. "What the hell was that all about?" Derek asks her, swinging her around.

"Nothing, he started it!" Katie argued. "He came in here and sat down on me!"

"And I'm sure you said something, why are you out here, and not helping your mother in the kitchen?" Derek growls.

"Matt said…"

"I don't care, go help your mother, don't be lazy." Derek said angrily, pointing at the kitchen.

"But Matt said…"

"And I said, go!"

"This isn't your house!"

"I am NOT having this argument! GO!"

"Happy Thanksgiving." Meredith says sarcastically from the kitchen doorway as she scowls at Derek and Katie and goes back into the kitchen.

Derek sees the look in Meredith's eyes and his anger turned immediately to guilt. He glanced back at Katie and went into the kitchen after Meredith.

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Derek walked into the kitchen and Meredith was busying herself with cutting potatoes at the counter. Izzie is folding napkins, Matthew is preparing some appetizers for the many guests. With Rebecca gone to the store, Mark stands in the corner of the kitchen looking for something to do. "Mer." Derek says, softly.

"No, Derek. I don't want to hear it." Meredith says sternly, turning Matt and Izzie's head to listen.

"Meredith?" He begs as he comes up to her side.

"No, Derek. I will not let you make this house a war zone. You can take your petty arguments with the kids and you can shove them out the door, and you can go with them, for all I care right now. They're adults, accept it." Meredith says to him, under her breath.

"Jackson hit Katie when he came in, he's outside cooling off. When they start acting like adults, I'll start treating them like adults." Derek whispered, but not low enough, for one person in the room did hear. They exit into the hallway and go out the front door.

"Why would Jack hit her? Did you ask him?"

"No?"

"Of course you didn't! Goddamn it, Derek." Meredith says angrily as she throws a handful of potatoes into the pot of water. "Look at me Derek." Meredith says, pulling him to stare into her eyes. "I don't care what Jack did, what Katie did, what you did. I am going to have a nice Thanksgiving without this stress, so I want you to go out there and fix things before anyone else gets here, unless you want to ruin my day. Which trust me Derek, you do NOT want to ruin my day." She says as she lets go of his shirt and turns back to the counter.

"Okaaay…" Derek says. He kisses the side of her head and turns to walk back into the living room.

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Mark walks out into the hallway and slips out the front door. Jack is sitting on the porch in his socks, he steps out on the porch just as Jack throws his second shoe at Derek's car, just missing the driver's side door panel. Without saying anything, he sits down beside Jack, takes his right shoe off and hands it over to Jack.

"What's that for?" Jack says with a scowl.

"To work on your aim." He says as he throws the shoe and hits the door, scuffing it a little. He takes off his other shoe and hands it to Jack.

"No, I really shouldn…" Jack starts and picks up the shoe and throws it, full force at Derek's car, hitting it right above where Mark hit it. "Thanks." Jack says sadly.

The two of them sit in silence for several minutes, watching the rain fall as their shoes soak in the driveway.

"I have four sisters." Mark says, as if he's talking to himself. "Four older, bossy, bitchy, pain-in-the-ass sisters."

Jack turns to Mark. "If this is a story about how you fought with your sisters when you were younger and now that you're all grown up and mature, you are all the best of friends, I really don't need to hear it. I REALLY don't need to hear it." Jack says angrily.

"No. I actually hardly ever talk to my sisters. I still hate them." Mark says, continuing to look out at the rain for a few more minutes. "Snobby, bitchy, little shits." Mark mumbled angrily.

"What do you want, anyway?" Jack says with a scowl.

"I just want you to know that I take full responsibility for Katie turning out the way she did." Mark says quietly.

"What do you mean?" Jack asks after a few moments of silence.

"I mean, first of all, if I didn't screw up, she would have never gone through that horrible incident when she was younger. Your dad totally flipped out about that, she could do no wrong in his eyes after that." Mark says angrily.

"So you're saying its your fault that Katie is a spoiled brat that gets whatever she wants?" Jack asked.

"Pretty much." Mark says, glancing at Jack.

"Whatever." Jack says, rolling his eyes.

"I can't say that I know why you're a spoiled brat though." Mark says, with a hint of a smile.

"Shut up." Jack says, his mouth turning up into a smile.

"Listen. Things will get better, you can't go around punching people when things don't go your way. I remember when you were fifteen. Your father called me all upset because you were getting into fights all the time, he didn't know what to do. I didn't even know what to do. Matthew had never been in a fight, but maybe once."

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_"Jackson Grey Shepherd! I don't know what I am going to do with you!" Derek growled at his 15 year old son sitting in front of him. His eye is swollen shut and his lip is bleeding, a large cut stretching across his cheek, having been stitched up from an earlier fight._

"What? What's your problem?" Jack said angrily, lifting the ice pack to his eye again.

"This is the SIXTH fight you have gotten in this year! This is the SECOND time you have been suspended! I SWEAR TO GOD JACKSON!" Derek screamed loudly.

"Just shut up dad, you're giving me a headache" Jack said, putting his head down.

"Don't you DARE tell me to shut up! Just go up into your room, get the hell out of my sight!" Derek says as he stalks away angrily.

"I just have some issues that I have to work out in my head. I wasn't thinking, I didn't mean to hit her. She's just such an ass sometimes." Jack says with a frustrated sigh.

"It doesn't help when your girlfriend, who is also your best friend, hasn't been around much lately." Mark says, looking off in another direction.

"What? Who told you that?" Jack says.

"Your mom and I had a talk. She's worried about you. She wants you to be happy, she wants you to do whatever will make you happy, Jacks."

"The only thing that will make me happy is to get the hell away from everything. To just leave and not come back. I hate this place, and I hate everyone around it and…." Jack says as he trails off.

"Then do it, if you have to. I don't really advise it, it'd kill your mother, and I don't think that Charlotte would be very happy with you if you left. We all love you Jacks, even your dad. Just cut him a little slack. If he says something that irritates you, just let it roll off your back, he's just bossy." Mark says softly, nudging Jack.

Jack nudges him back. "Yeah…he is bossy. I'm just as stubborn as he is." He responds.

"Yes you are, and that's why you two clash so much. Hey, let's go get our shoes, I think they've filled up with water by now." Mark says with a laugh as he stands up. He walks to the car and tosses Jackson his shoes. "Why don't we go in."

"Yeah, I'm feeling a little better. Thanks Mark."

"No problem, Jacks. Just relax, have a good time with Charlotte. Don't worry about your dad, he's bossy, but he's also a big pushover." Mark says as he opens the door and ushers Jack inside.

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Jack and Mark walk into the house just as Derek walks out of the kitchen. Derek walks towards them and Jack walks past him without a glance to his sister over at the couch. Katie is sitting on the couch sulking.

"Hey. I'm sorry I hit you." Jack says sincerely.

"Whatever." Katie says with a frown.

"I'm apologizing, seriously, I'm sorry."

"I said, whatever." Katie says, elbowing him a little, a small smile crossing her face.

"You're such an ass, you know that?" He smiles.

"Yeah, well I could have kicked your ass."

"Whatever."

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1:00 pm-

"Derek's already mad at Jackson about you two, so you had better behave yourselves in front of everyone." Preston says as they pull up to the house.

"I'm fine daddy, its not like we're going to get naked and do stuff in the middle of the living room. Besides, I haven't seen Jackson in almost a week, who knows what we might do." Charlotte says to her father with her eyebrows raised, giggling at his disapproving glare in the rearview mirror.

"You just behave, young lady."

"I will, daddy. I missed you so much!" Charlotte says.

"I missed you too, sweetheart." Preston replied.

"Oh my God, will you two cut it out. Preston, be nice to Jackson. Charlotte, don't be too nice to Jackson. Can we get into the goddamned house, I'm hungry." Cristina shouts as she climbs out of the car.

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"Daddy, where's mommy?" Lilybeth asks George as they get into the car to go to the house.

"She's making dinner at Aunt Katie's house."

"And we have to go?" She mumbles as she buckles her seatbelt.

"Of course we have to go, they're our family."

"I'm the littlest one there, adults are no fun."

"You won't be the littlest one there for long, so hang tough this year and next year you'll be able to play with Katie's baby… well… not play with it, but at least you won't be the youngest." George explains awkwardly.

"You're silly Daddy." Lilybeth giggles

"I know." George smiles.

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Dinner is almost ready and everyone has arrived and is milling about the house, snacking on appetizers and talking. Katie is perched on the arm of the couch, Matthew gently rubbing her back as she talks with Charlotte. Jack talks cautiously with Preston, who has Lilybeth in his lap, about his trip and some of the interesting things he saw while away. Izzie, Cristina, Rebecca, and Meredith are in the kitchen while Derek, Mark and George talk about the hospital, laughing at some of the stranger cases that had come in their direction.

"Alright, dinner is ready, single file line and no pushing. Get your asses in the dining room or else we're eating without you." Cristina calls from the kitchen door as everyone laughs and slowly makes it to the dining room. They all find their spots at the table and sit down, prepared to carve the turkey.

"Ok, who's carving the turkey?" Matthew asks as they all sit, prepared to eat.

"I don't know. It's your house." Derek says to Matt, laughing.

"Well it used to be my house." Mark says, reaching for the turkey.

"You know what? To hell with you all, I'm cutting it!" Cristina says as she grabs the tray with the turkey and begins carving, much to everyone's amusement.

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After dinner, everyone disperses into various directions. Derek and Mark , George dries them while Preston 'supervises'. Katie and Matt sit on the couch snuggling while Meredith, Rebecca, Cristina, and Izzie sit at the table playing cards while Lilybeth sits on the floor in front of the couch watching television. Jacks slips out the front door and sits on the porch again. Charlotte walks out of the kitchen and looks around, seeing that Jackson isn't around, she goes to the front door and peeks out. Seeing his slouched over silouhette sitting on the top step, she quietly walks out the front door and sits down next to him.

"Hey." He says, not looking up.

"Hey. Are you alright?" Charlotte asks, sitting next to him.

"Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just tired."

"You haven't said very much to me tonight, are you mad at me?"

"No."

"Then why aren't you talking to me?"

"I don't know, I just want to be alone, I guess." He responds sadly.

"No." Charlotte says, putting her head on his shoulder. "You're not allowed to be alone."

"I don't want to impose on your time with your father." Jack said softly, turning his head, dropping a kiss on her head.

"You wouldn't be imposing. Its not like you didn't spend half of your childhood at my house anyway. Its weird there without you."

"If you wanted me to come over, why didn't you say so?"

"Because you have to stop being such a chicken."

"I am not a chicken!" He says as he pushes her back gently down on the porch, with him leaning over her.

"You are such a chicken. If you weren't a chicken, you would kiss me right now and not care what happens."

"Oh yeah?" He challenges, raising his eyebrows, smiling McDreamily. At her nod, he leans down and begins to kiss her passionately. They involve themselves in the kiss so much, that neither of them notices the front door opening, they don't notice the two heads, poke their way around the corner.

"JACKSON AND CHARLOTTE SITTING IN A TREE!! K-I-S-S-I-N-G!" Katie and Matthew scream from the doorway.

Jack jumps up to chase after them, but they slam the door shut as Charlotte grabs his leg. "Forget about them, come back down here and finish kissing me." She says softly.

Jackson smiles and looks down at her, and smiles. "You're beautiful." He says as he sits down next to her and begins to kiss her once again.

"Thank you." She says softly. "But those two are so dead meat." Charlotte responds with an evil grin.


	47. Chapter 47

Chapter 47-

December 3, 2031

Derek is performing surgery, the music is off and the intercom is on.

"What about… Aidan?"

"No." The voice comes from above.

"Lucas?" Derek says as he asks for more suction

"No. Give me a girl name."

"Maddison?"

"Too close to 'Addison'."

"Katie…" Derek says, a little frustrated.

"That's my name, I can't name my daughter after me."

"No, Katie, I'm trying to perform a surgery, don't you think there is a better time to be going over baby names?"

"Its my only day off this week daddy, and you promised you'd help."

"How about Melvin?"

"Ok, ok, I can see you're not really interested in this. I'll talk to you later." Katie says as she gets up.

"Come on, don't you think Melvin is a good name?" He asks one of the scrub nurses, she nods. "See! Kathleen thinks that it's a perfect name." Derek turns back to Kathleen. "It's a family name, you know." He turns back to the surgery.

"It is not a family name!"

"It would be if someone would name their child Melvin. I like Melvin."

"Get a dog, dad. I'll talk to you later.

"Talk to you later. Love you." Derek says, laughing to himself.

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Katie walks into the gallery for OR 2 and sits down next to Meredith.

"What did he say?"

"Melvin, he said Melvin! I mean…. Seriously!" Katie said incredulously.

"Melvin? He tried to name Jack, Melvin…. I'm sure he would have tried naming you Melvin."

"Good thing I was a girl."

"He still would have wanted to name you Melvin, even if you were a girl. He would have just added an 'a' on the end." Meredith laughs.

"Melvina?"

"It's a family name."

"It would be if anyone named their kid that."

"Thank God that we're too smart for that one." They both laugh.

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Later in the afternoon-

Derek runs to catch the elevator. Meredith is alone inside, looking down at her pager. "You didn't watch my surgery." Derek says, giving her a sad face.

"You want to name our grandchild Melvin." Meredith replied, not looking at him, but smiling nonetheless.

"Can we not call it 'grandchild' how about we call it our 'small spoiled friend'?" Derek says, pleased with his answer.

"Feeling old?"

"No. I just want to assure the child that we are its friend."

"You are so feeling old."

"You know what? Melvin is going to love us no matter how old we are, so it doesn't matter what he calls us." Derek says proudly.

Meredith turns around and pins him against the wall. "What is your obsession with that name?" 

"No obsession here." He says innocently. "Except for maybe you…" He says as he reaches down to kiss her. Suddenly the doors to the elevator open.

"Gotta go! See you around Grandpa!" Meredith kisses him on the lips quick and runs out of the elevator, smiling at the people waiting for the elevator as they laugh.

"She is so going to get it for that." He mutters with a sly grin.

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Matt and Katie lie in bed that evening, trying to sleep.

"So." Matt says as he turns on his side and wraps his arm around her.

"Not now, I'm sleepy." Katie replies, swatting at his arm.

"So?" He holds her tighter.

"So What? What?" She responds, trying to pry his arm from around her.

"Shh… Listen, so I got this page from your father today."

"Yeah? So?" She continues to try to pry his arm off, he continues to squeeze.

"I called him, and all he said was 'Melvin', and he hung up on me." Matt says as he continues to hold her captive.

"Ha! He won't give that up!" She laughs, finally giving up on getting his arm off her.

"What is that all about?"

"He wants us to name our child 'Melvin'." Katie says with a laugh, shifting a little, his arm moves up to her shoulder, his hand hanging down.

"What?"

"Here, this is what he told me…"

_"There is no way that the Yankees are going to win the world series this year! They suck!"_

"Ok, but if the Yankees do win the world series again, you have to name your first born 'Melvin'" Mark says, giving Derek a death glare.

"Fine! Melvin it is! Moron…" Derek grumbles under his breath.

"And that, Matthew, is why he is trying to name his grandchild, Melvin."

"Because he lost a bet with my father."

"Yes, because he lost a bet with your father, and I guess that for every year that goes by that he doesn't have a child or grandchild named Melvin, your father sends him a case of stadium hot dogs, the first week of October."

"Your father hates hot dogs."

"My father hates your father." Katie giggled as she pinched his arm.

"OW!" He says pulling his arm back.

"Thank you, now let me go to sleep." She mumbles into her blanket.

"That hurt, jerk."

"I love you too."

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"Are you ready to go home?" Meredith says, standing in the doorway of Derek's office.

"Almost. Have you seen my stapler?" Derek asks, his brow furrowed as he shifts papers around on his desk.

"I am not falling for that one again, Grandpa." She says with a laugh.

He looks up, with a surprised look on his face, his eyes open and his mouth slightly agape. He sees the grin on her face and his eyes narrow. "Listen, Grandma. If you don't cut that out right now, I'll just stay here tonight." He says, still shifting through his papers.

"Fine, I'll cut it out if you tell me one thing." She says, walking over to him. She wheels his chair out and sits on his lap, softly playing with his lab coat lapel.

"What is that?" He asks smiling.

"Tell me who Melvin is, and why you and Mark decided that name."

"Ok… well… Melvin was the first name of a teacher we had in high school. He had a lazy eye and was really geeky. His name was Mr. Malox, but we called him Melvin."

"Melvin Malox?" Meredith giggles. "So? Why was this the content of the conversation over a baseball game?"

"Well, Mr. Malox also had a strange odor. He always smelled like hot dogs. Stop giggling! I'm serious! You know, like he had one for breakfast, one for lunch, and then like…. Took a bath with hotdogs in the evening. It was weird. And we went to a baseball game and Mark dared me to eat a hot dog. I HATE hot dogs, so we started to talk about Melvin, and we started to talk about the Yankees, and for some reason, it came down to me naming my child Melvin. The Yankees won the World Series, and I lost the bet, and that's the story."

"That was the stupidest bet ever!"

"Yes it was, and its because of YOU that I get hot dogs every year."

"Because I named our first child Katherine and not Melvin?"

"Exactly." Derek laughs, reaching up for a kiss. "Your fault." He says, poking her lightly in the chest.

"I like hot dogs." Meredith says as she starts to get up.

He grabs her jacket and pulls her back down into his lap. "You're not going anywhere until I find my stapler." He says as he begins to tickle her.

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December 16th, 2031.

2:30am-

"Hello?" The groggy voice says into the telephone. He listens patiently for a moment, and all he can hear is the gentle sound of someone crying into the phone. "Meredith? Is that you?" The crying on the other line continues for several more seconds. "Meri, talk to me, what's going on?"

"They're fighting again." She whimpered into the phone.

"Who? Who's fighting again? Derek and Jacks?" he asks softly.

"Yes, they're fighting again, and they're pushing each other and yelling, and I don't know what to do, I don't want to get involved." She cries softly.

"Meri, where are they?"

"Downstairs, they're downstairs and Derek is yelling at Jackson for coming home drunk, and I can't take it anymore, I can't take the fighting anymore." Meredith sobs.

"Did he drive home drunk?"

"No, he didn't, but Derek is mad because he has an exam tomorrow morning."

"It'll be alright Meri, can you put Derek on the phone?"

"No! I don't want him to know I have been talking to you about this, he thinks that we can solve the problem ourselves, he doesn't want anyone else to know." Meredith sobs.

"He's going to figure it out, Meri, this is the third time you've called me this week."

"I don't want them to fight anymore, please help. Maybe you can talk to Jacks." Meredith cries. "I have to go, Derek is coming." Meredith abruptly hangs up the phone as Derek stomps into the room.

"Goddamn kid!" Derek yells. "He thinks he can do whatever the hell he wants! I wish he'd just move out and then I'd be done with him!" Derek says angrily as he gets ready for bed. Meredith watches as he climbs into bed and lays with his back to her, not even noticing the still fresh tears rolling down her cheeks.

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December 17, 2031-

"Dr. Shepherd is here to see you, Chief." The voice comes over the intercom.

"Send her in, thank you Margaret." Derek says as he signs papers and moves a few things around on his desk. Meredith walks in, Derek doesn't look up. "Hey, what do you need?" Derek asks, distracted. Meredith doesn't say anything, she just stands in front of his desk, a sad, worn expression on her face. "Meredith, I don't have time for this, what do you want?" He says, looking up at her. He doesn't ask her about why she looks so sad and tired, he just looks into her eyes, waiting for an answer.

"Derek, I'm going to Portland for a few days." Meredith says, as she rubs her eyes with her fingers, tiredly.

"Portland? What's in Portland?" Derek asks as he looks back down at his papers.

"There's a neurology conference at OHSU, I'd like to go to it. I'll be leaving on the 19th and coming back the 22nd." Meredith says, looking down at him.

"Hmm… OHSU, isn't that where Mark works?" Derek asks, glancing up and back down again.

"Yeah, he's the one that told me about the conference. I just want to make sure I can have the time off, and that you don't care that I'm going."

"You can go. It's close to Christmas though." He says nonchalantly.

"The kids are grown up, they're not going to care if I don't get back until two days before Chrismas. Do you care if I go?"

"I don't care, have fun." Derek says, not looking up.

Meredith looks down at him for a few minutes, just watching him do his paperwork. "Was there anything else?" He asks, glancing up.

"No, have a good day." Meredith says as she turns around.

"Uh huh…" He mumbles as she walks out and closes the door behind her.

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6pm-

"Your mom is going to Portland?" Matt asks as he and Katie shuffle through the mall looking for Christmas presents.

"Portland? First of all, why is she going there, and second of all, how do you know?"

"My dad called. He wanted to ask me a few questions about what has been going on around here. He said she's coming down for a neurology conference. She's staying with my parents."

"She never mentioned it to me."

"Dad didn't go into much more detail than that. Just that she'll be there till the 22nd."

"Doesn't your mother have that consult in California this week."

"Yup."

"Hmm…." Katie says as they continue to shop in silence.

"You know, if your mom and my dad got married, that'd make us brother and sister…"

"…"

"Hey! Get back here!!"

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"Hello?" Meredith answers the cell phone tiredly.

"Hi mom!" Katie says cheerfully into the phone.

"Hi sweetheart, what do you need?"

"Nothing, I'm just calling to say hi."

"You found out I'm going to Portland."

Katie is silent for a few seconds. "Yeah, Matt told me. What's going on with you and dad?"

"Nothing that you need to worry about, sweetie. I just need to get away for a few days, the conference is a perfect getaway."

"You're staying at Matt's parent's house?"

"Yes, why? Are you checking up on me?"

"No."

"Yes you are."

"What's going on with you and dad?"

"Nothing. Sweetie, I have to go, I'll call you when I get home from Portland. Take care of your daddy please, make sure he doesn't work too much."

"I'll try. I love you."

"I love you too." Katie says as she hangs up the phone. Matthew finally catches up to her.

"Why were you running away from me?"

"I had to call my mom."

"Because of the Portland thing?"

"Yeah, because of the Portland thing." Katie says, giving him a face.

"Don't get snotty with me. What'd she say?"

"She said to take care of daddy." Katie says as she turns and walks away.

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December 19th 2031- 7pm

Meredith gets off the plane in Portland and stands by the baggage claim carousel waiting for her bag to come around. Suddenly she feels a tap on her shoulder. "I swear woman, you are the only person on the planet that has their name embroidered on the front of their suitcase, talk about pompous." The voice says from behind her.

"Mark!" Meredith says, turning fast and giving him a hug around the neck, he drops her bag and wraps his arms around her tightly.

"Woah, easy there. Geez, Meredith, you're going to give people the wrong impression." Mark says as she hugs him tighter.

Meredith pulls away from him and straightens out her jacket. Mark can see the tears in her eyes that are beginning to form. She grabs his hand and her suitcase and starts to pull him through the airport. "I don't care what impression they get. Let's just go eat something, I'm starving."

"Your wish is my command." Mark says as she pulls him through the airport.

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Mark and Meredith are sitting in a restaurant looking at their menus with Meredith's cell phone on the table, dancing across the table slightly to the vibration of it ringing.

"Aren't you going to get that?" Mark asks, reaching for her phone.

Meredith slaps his hand and continues to look at the menu. "No. I'm not speaking to him right now."

He pulls his hand back and continues to stare at the phone buzzing across the table. "You could at least turn it off."

"No, I am collecting messages. I am hoping that at least one of them will be an apology." Meredith says, not looking up.

"So you're not talking to him and you want an apology. What did he do?" Mark asks, reaching across for the phone again.

Meredith again slaps his hand. "He is an ass. He didn't say goodbye to me, and he treats my son like he's eight years old. That is what he did."

"So you want an apology for not saying goodbye?"

"No! I want an apology for him telling me to not sleep with you." Meredith says angrily, she slams down the menu and looks into Mark's eyes. "I think I'll have the chicken parmasean."

"He told you WHAT?"

"Maybe I'll have the chicken kiev." Meredith says, lifting the menu up again.

"Meredith…"

Suddenly, Mark reaches across the table and grabs the buzzing phone. She protests as he flips it open and sees that it is Derek calling. He presses the button to speak. "Listen Derek, we're having dinner right now, then we're going back to my place. She'll call you when she's done with me. Goodnight." Mark says into the phone, flips it closed, and sets it on the table. "There, I think we took care of that little problem, didn't we."

Meredith stares at him stunned, and looks down at the silent phone. "He is going to kill you."

Mark reaches his hands across the table and takes hers gently in his. "Meredith, if he hasn't done it yet, it's never going to happen."

"No, he is really going to kill you." Meredith says, a serious look on her face.

He gently squeezes her hands. "Meri, I would do anything for you. You have brought so much happiness into my life. You brought my friend back to me, you helped Rebecca and I through so many things. Hell, you helped to straighten me out. You deserve a shrine, Meredith. You deserve followers and rose petals to be spread at your feet no matter where you walk. You are beautiful, sophisticated, smart, and beautiful."

"You said beautiful twice." Meredith laughed.

"I wasn't done." Mark laughed. "I love you Meredith Shepherd. In a really, really big pretend to like your cooking, let your husband beat the pulp out of me, listen to you rant and rave about your children's problems, unfortunate way that makes me hate myself, love you. So trust me, listen to me, and let me listen to you. He should trust you, by now. I do." Mark whispered.

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Matt, Kristin, and Alli are sitting in the gallery waiting for Derek's next surgery to begin. The patient is prepped and ready to go when suddenly, Derek appears in the corner of the operating room.

"What is he doing?" Kristin asked as she points to Derek in the middle of a heated discussion with one of the scrub nurses.

"I'm not sure. Turn on the intercom." Matt says. Kristin presses the buttotn for the intercom.

"So, get Dr.Marshall down here to do this surgery. I'm in the middle of a family emergency. I can't do this surgery right now." Derek says to the nurse.

"Family emergency?" Matt asks as he watches Derek flounder for words.

"Family emergency?" the scrub nurse says.

"Yes, i have to make an emergency trip to Portland now. Get Dr. Marshall down here NOW to do this surgery." Derek demands.

"Right away chief." The scrub nurse replies.

"Shit." Matt says as he turns and runs out of the gallery, at the same time that Derek leaves the Operating room.

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"Mark. You better watch it, or else I'll jump you right here in this restaurant." Meredith teases as she lets go of Mark's hands. "Just don't get me drunk tonight, you have no idea what I'd be capable of." Meredith giggles.

"Oh, don't tease me." Mark laughs. "What type of wine would you like with dinner?" He asks nonchalantly.

"Wine? Who needs wine, let's get something a little harder than wine." Meredith says with a smile.

"I think wine will do just fine, I don't want to do something I may regret." Mark laughs.

"Who says we'd regret it?" Meredith laughs at his shocked expression. "I'm kidding. Let's talk about what I really came here to talk about with you." She smiles.

"I'll talk about anything you need, Meredith. So what the hell is going on up there?" Mark asks.

"I can't take it anymore Mark, I had to get away."

"Well, first tell me why Derek is so pissed off. Why would he say something about you sleeping with me?"

_"Why are you going to Portland again?" Derek asks, as if he is testing her._

"A neurology conference, why?"

"I'm just wondering. Where are you going to be staying?" Derek asks.

"What is with the twenty questions all of a sudden. Yesterday, you didn't want to talk to me about it, today you're all curious and sweet. Sounds like you think I'm up to something." Meredith replies.

"I am just curious. Where are you going to be staying? Just in case I need to call you." Derek says, keeping himself busy with a patient's chart.

"I'll be staying at Mark's. He offered. Rebecca is going to be out of town, and he said he wouldn't mind the company." Meredith explained.

"Hmm… wouldn't mind the company." Derek mumbles.

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Meredith asks.

"Nothing, I was just saying."

"Just saying what, Derek?"

"Nothing." He replies.

"Derek, cut the shit and talk to me. You have been mad for days about Jackson, and you won't talk to me. What the hell do you want me to do? I just want to go to this conference in peace." Meredith says, leaning over his desk.

"Why don't you go talk to 'Mark' about our problem with Jack. Maybe 'he' can solve the problem." Derek says sarcastically.

"Maybe I will! He understands about the situation and at least he'll talk to me about it without getting pissy and angry! At least he cares about what is going on with our son!" Meredith says angrily.

"You know what Meredith? Go. Just go and be with Mark and have a great time crying over your tequila complaining about what a horrible father I have been to your son! Just go! But if you sleep with him, don't you even bother coming back home!" Derek screams angrily.

"You know what Derek? Go to HELL!" Meredith yells as she grabs his stapler and throws it at him, nearly hitting his head. She then turns and runs out of his office.

"He didn't say that to you." Mark says in response to Meredith's story.

"Damn straight he did!" Meredith responds.

"Then I have a few more things to say to him!" Mark says as he reaches across the table for Meredith's phone.

She grabs his hand as he puts it on the phone. "No, Mark. Just let it go. I can handle him, but I do need to talk to you about Jacks, if you don't mind."

Mark turned his hand from the phone and let Meredith's hand rest in his. "You just talk, and I'll listen." He says softly, as he holds her hand.

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Meredith spends the next couple hours talking her heart out about Jackson and Derek's anger towards one another. The conversation spills over into the car on the way to Mark's house and into the house, where Meredith and Mark sit on the couch facing one another, talking about different ways to solve some of the issues that have arisen.

"Maybe Jackson can take Matt out somewhere. God only knows that my son can use a taste of that outdoor air that Jack is always basking in." Mark says laughing as he holds Meredith's hand.

"I should suggest it, I know that they'd really enjoy it. They get along very well, maybe they could have some time to talk. Jack has always felt like he doesn't have anyone to really relate to, I think Matt would be a perfect outlet." Meredith smiles. "Well, I should get to bed, its almost 1am, that conference starts at eight in the morning." 

"You mean you're not going to play hooky, and go somewhere with me?" Mark asks, innocently.

"You know that I would much rather go out and play on the town with you, but I told Derek I was going to the conference, I have to be true to my word. Maybe we can do something afterwards, have dinner or something?" Meredith asks.

"That sounds good. I'll let you get to bed. You know where Matt's old room is, right?"

"Top of the stairs, second door to the right?" Meredith giggles.

"You know that's my room!"

"Just seeing if you're paying attention." Meredith says with a laugh as she stands up to go to the bathroom.

While Meredith is in the bathroom, a knock comes on the door. "Who the hell could that be at this hour?" Mark says as he walks towards the door and opens it up, revealing a very red faced and angry Derek Shepherd.

"Where the hell is she?" Derek demands.

"Who?" Mark says, a smile playing across his face.

Derek takes a step inside. "You know 'who' I'm talking about, where is my wife?"

"Your WIFE?" Meredith says angrily as she walks into the room dressed in a ratty t-shirt and sweatpants, ready for bed. "Give me a BREAK, Derek! First of all, your 'wife' has a name." Meredith says angrily, poking him in the chest. "Second of all, don't make be beat you to a bloody pulp, for coming here and acting all 'caveman' in front of me and Mark. Do you think you're here to save me?" Meredith says, walking up to him, putting her face into his. "I don't need 'SAVING' Derek, I just need to go to sleep!" She pushes him a little and walks past him to the stairs, walking up to the bedroom that she'll be sleeping in.

Derek stands there stunned for a moment as he watches her ascend the stairs. He looks at Mark expectantly.

"Are you going to stand there like a moron, or are you going to follow her?" Mark said with a hint of disgust.

Derek throws Mark a glare as he turns and follows Meredith up the stairs.

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Derek stomped up the stairs just fast enough to notice what room she went into and slammed the door to. He walked to the door and opened it, walking inside, he turns and slams the door closed again.

"Who the HELL do you think you are?" Meredith says, turning around, her eyes filled with an angry fire, her cheeks flushed in anger.

"I am your husband, and I would appreciate it if I were TREATED as your husband!" Derek yells back to her angrily. "Get your stuff, we're going home, now!"

"Oh no we're not. You're not riding in here on your goddamned high horse and dragging me home like some GODDAMNED PIECE OF PROPERTY!! I am going to that conference tomorrow, and you have work, so get the hell out of this house, and get the hell out of this city and leave me the HELL ALONE!" Meredith screams, taking a step closer to him, putting her finger against his chest.

He stares down at her hand as she yells at him and he suddenly turns and grabs her suitcase. "Get… your… goddamned… shit…." He says, beginning to pack her belongings in the suitcase. "And… lets … go HOME NOW!" He says as he continues to throw her things into the suitcase.

"NO!" Meredith yells, walking over to the suitcase, she begins to pull her things back out, shoving him with her elbow. "I am not going home with you! I am going to that conference, and I am having a good time here and you're ruining it! GO HOME AND LEAVE US ALONE!"

"Us? Oh, so there's an 'us' now?" Derek says, turning towards her. 

"Oh my GOD! Give me a break! This is what this is all about? You're JEALOUS? OH MY GOD! Get out! Just get out of my face! You don't trust me! GO! JUST GO!"

"I'm not going anywhere without you!"

"I am not going with you! Don't you understand? I came here to get AWAY FROM YOU! TO GET AWAY FROM THE FIGHTING! I can't TAKE it anymore, Derek! You fight with Jackson, you fight with me about fighting with him, you both are driving me crazy! I came here to get some rest without having to listen to you two bicker and fight over every little thing! I have called Mark five times in the past…"

"YOU CALLED HIM? HIM? YOU CALLED HIM BECAUSE YOU WERE SICK OF ME?" Derek screamed at the top of his lungs, not realizing the door, opening slightly behind him.

"I called him because I was sick of the fighting! I have gone to bed crying every night for the past week, and you haven't even NOTICED! I am tired of going unnoticed, I am tired of your attitude problems in the morning, and I am tired of being ignored! So I came here, where I can relax in the confines of a house where I don't feel like a stranger, and I can have some pleasant conversation with someone that ACTUALLY LISTENS TO ME! HE UNDERSTANDS ME DEREK! HE TRIES! He actually TRIES to understand what is going on with Jack! You don't try! You just yell at him and turn your back on the poor kid! I am so sick of it!"

"Oh, you like it here, huh? Fine! STAY HERE!" Derek says, throwing her clothing he is holding in his hands back down on the bed.

"Fine, I will stay here, and I'll be home on the 22nd!" Meredith says, staring him in the eyes. Her eyes were an angry dark blue, tears rolling down her cheeks as he challenges her with his stare.

"NO! GODDAMN IT, YOU ARE COMING WITH ME! MARK CAN SEND YOUR CRAP IN THE MAIL!" Derek says, grabbing Meredith's arm.

"You will let go of her arm right now and you will leave my house this minute." Marks calm voice comes from the doorway.

---------------------------------------------------

"You will let go of her arm right now and you will leave my house this minute." Marks calm voice comes from the doorway.

Derek turns around and faces Mark, his hand still grasping Meredith's arm. "What?" He says angrily.

Mark takes a step forward calmly and places it on the hand that Derek is holding onto Meredith with. "I said, take your hand off of her arm right now, and get out of my house." He says the words, slowly and deliberately, not taking his eyes off of Derek for a second.

Derek's grip loosens and he lets go of her arm. He looks back and forth between Meredith and Mark, seeing the anger in Meredith's eyes and the calm in Mark's. He suddenly felt like an outsider, and as the guilt rose in his heart, he turned and gave Meredith a desperate look and noticed as her eyes softened slightly. He looked back at Mark, who tilted his head slightly to try to get some kind of response out of Derek.

"I… I think I should go." Derek says slowly, not realizing that his voice has a hint of sadness. He turns to Meredith and his face turns to a desperate puppy dog expression. "I'm sorry." He says softly, his voice cracking. He reaches up to touch her face and when she doesn't recoil, his eyes soften even more. "I'll see you in a couple of days." He says softly. "I am sorry." He reaches down and kisses her lightly on the lips, and turns around and walks out of the door.

Mark and Meredith stand in silence as they hear him slowly make his way downstairs, and close the door behind him. Mark turns to Meredith and takes her hand. "Are you alright?" He says softly, pulling her out of a daydream.

She is still watching the door and she nods her head a little as she shakes out of her daydream. "Huh? Oh… yeah… we're fine." She says softly. "We'll be fine. Thank you, Mark."

"Its not a problem, Mer. It was my pleasure to help. Not that you needed saving." He says softly, caressing her hand.

"Yeah." She says, still in a daze. "We'll be just fine." She smiles slightly as she lets go of his hand and begins to pick her things up off the bed.

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Meredith slips into bed and lies silently as she listens to Mark move around downstairs, getting ready for bed. She hears him come upstairs and go into his room as she slowly drifts to sleep. She is just about asleep when she sees a light slowly fill the room. The door is opening and she sees a shadow of someone standing in the hallway.

"Mark, seriously, I have to go to sleep. I have that conference in the morning, we can talk about things tomorrow." Meredith says grumpily as she cuddles deeper into her blanket. The door softly closes and the room is again filled with darkness.

Meredith slowly begins to fall asleep again, when she feels the weight of a hand moving across her ear, slowly… softly… taking her earlobe softly between his fingers.

"How did you get in here?" Meredith whispers, shivering from his touch.

"Key." He says softly.

"And where did you get a key?"

"Matthew." He whispers in her ear, his hot breath causing her to shiver again.

"Why are you still here?" She asks, snuggling deep in her blanket.

"Because I can't go to sleep without telling you that I love you."

"You better leave before morning. He'll beat you up." Meredith giggles.

"I am very frightened. Will you hold me?"

"I'll hold you, but I'm still mad at you."

"I know. I love you, and we need to talk about things."

"I love you too, and yes, we need to talk about things." Meredith says as she pulls back her blanket and allows him to cuddle with her, falling asleep entwined in each others arms.

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The next morning, Meredith woke with her face buried in a head of dark hair and a tangle of limbs.

"Derek." Meredith whispers, trying to get him to wake up. "Derek, wake up."

"Nmmhh" He mumbles into her chest.

"Derek, come on!" Meredith whispers, pushing on him. "I have to go!"

"No…nonono….don't go, you don't have to go…" Derek says, grasping at her body, trying to get her to stay put.

Meredith rolls, slipping off the other side of the bed, wrapping her bathrobe around herself. She tosses his pants onto his head and giggles a little. "Listen, I have to go take a shower. When I get back, you won't be here. Ok? Good, I am glad we have that straightened out." She says softly as she throws his shirt on his head also and runs out of the room.

Derek rolls over and pulls his clothes off of his head. "Where have I heard that before?" He laughs as he sits up to get ready to go.

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Meredith quickly showered and walked back into the bedroom she was staying in. She was a little disappointed that he had actually left, but she knew it was for the best, if she wanted to get to the conference on time. She went to grab her phone off the bedside table and picked up a haphazardly scrawled note on a piece of paper.

"See you later, Alligator. Love, Derek." She giggled at his sense of humor as she put the note in her pocket and threw her phone in her purse. She made her way downstairs and greeted Mark, who is sitting at the kitchen counter reading the newspaper. She walks to the refrigerator and opens the door.

"You want breakfast? I can make you something?" Mark says, looking up from the paper.

She scans the refrigerator for a second. "How old is this pizza?" she asks, looking over at him.

"I don't know, a day old… why?"

"Nothing. Nope, I don't need you to make me anything." She says as she grabs a slice of cold pizza and heads for the door. "Have a good day, I'll see you later." Meredith says as she heads out the door.

Meredith gets to the conference and grabs her name tag and finds herself someplace to sit in the large lecture hall. She sits next to another female doctor and they hit it off well. They talk of their hospitals and of the different procedures that they have performed, now and then slipping into talk about family and other things. Somewhere in the middle of the conversation, the doctor she was talking to was distracted.

"Did you ever notice how many hot doctors hang out at these things." She asks Meredith, staring behind her for a second.

"What do you mean?" Meredith asks, obviously oblivious to her friend's reference.

"Nothing, there's just this really hot guy over there staring at us." She says, nodding in the direction behind Meredith.

Meredith turns around and comes in direct eye contact with Derek. He's staring at her with 'their look' just willing her to turn around and notice him.

"Him? Nah… he's not my type." Meredith says with a giggle as she turns back to her friend.

"He's coming over here!" Her friend says with a laugh.

Derek places his hand on Meredith's shoulder as he comes up next to her. "Excuse me, do I know you from somewhere?" Derek says, a smile spread on his face.

Meredith looks up at him and smiles. "I'm sorry, I've never seen you before in my life." She teases.

"It's funny, I feel like I know you. I had a dream about you last night." He says, taking her hand.

"Does that line ever work for you?" Meredith asks.

"Sometimes." He laughs as he brings her hand to his lips.

Meredith turns to her confused friend. "Dr. Green, this is Dr. Shepherd. He works with me at Seattle Grace. I also have the pleasure of being married to him. Derek, this is Dr. Green, she works here in Portland." Meredith giggles as her friend realizes what Meredith has just said.

"He's your…"

"Husband." Meredith finishes. "He's Chief of surgery at Seattle Grace, and he likes to follow me." Meredith giggles, still holding his hand.

"Lucky you." Dr. Green says with a smile.

"You'd think so." Meredith giggles as she pulls Derek down into the seat next to her. She turns to him and whispers in his ear. "You have some explaining to do, mister."

"I love you too." Derek says, kissing her quickly and leaning back in his seat with a satisfied grin on his face, his hand still in hers.

---------------------------------------------------

The conference began and Meredith sat listening to the lecturers' speeches, her hand lightly placed in Derek's, squeezing it now and then as he paid attention to not the speeches, but to her the entire time.

"Stop it." Meredith whispered to him at one point.

A slow, sly smile spread across his lips at her amused glance. "What? Stop what?" He whispered.

"Stop looking at me. I'm trying to pay attention to the lecture."

"Looking at you? I don't know what you're talking about." He says, continuing to watch her.

She doesn't turn in his direction, but she can still feel his stare on her. She reaches over and pinches his leg. "OW!" He exclaims, he then looks around at a few people who had begun to stare at him because of his outburst. His cheeks flush a little as he pokes her with his finger. "That was so not funny."

"Staring at me is not funny." She giggles slightly.

He continues to watch her through the lecture and when they break for lunch, Meredith turns to Dr. Green and they decide to go to lunch together.

"What about your husband?" Dr. Green says, asking about Derek.

"Who?" Meredith asks, looking at Derek's faux sad expression. "Oh, him… yeah, he'll probably follow us. Do you mind?"

"Of course not, let's get going." Dr. Green said as she smiled at the two of them. Meredith walked beside Dr. Green, talking the whole way to lunch, with Derek following close behind.

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Dr. Green and Meredith sit down at one of the tables in the cafeteria, while Derek sat beside them, quiet and respectful as the women chattered their lunch time away. He seemed content to just be around her, so he just relaxed and sat back, eating his lunch quietly.

"What the hell is he doing here?" A voice came from behind them as Derek looked up into the eyes of Mark, standing above him.

"Hey sweetheart." Derek said with a sly grin.

"Shut up." Mark says as he sits next to Derek. Meredith smiles at him and turns back to talking with her friend.

"No need to get all pissy." Derek said, still grinning. "You're just upset because you can't have her to yourself for lunch."

"Didn't I say shut up?" Mark asks as he begins to eat his lunch. Meredith just continues to talk to her friend, ignoring the exchange between the two men.

"I recall something like that." Derek said with a smile.

"Ah, so now your Mr. McDreamy again, huh? Last night you were Mr. Asshole, and now you're all sweet and loving and kind. You are so whipped." Mark replied with a smirk.

"Dr. McDreamy." Derek responds, turning to watch Meredith talk. "Isn't she just the most beautiful thing in the world?" Derek says aloud, making Meredith give him an amused glare and blush a little.

"Yeah." Mark says flippantly as he eats his sandwich. "So, why are you here?"

"I am a neurologist. This is a neurology conference. I just came to learn." Derek says innocently, taking a bite out of his sandwich.

"You're supposed to be leaving her alone." Mark says, glaring at him.

"She didn't say that last night, when I slept with her." Derek whispered.

"What?" Mark says, dropping his sandwich. Meredith throws him a glare and he gives her an apologetic smile.

"Yep, right in your house. Snuck upstairs and slipped right in to bed next to her." Derek says proudly.

"You're an ass." Mark whispers back.

"You're just jealous because you weren't invited." Derek grins.

"Are you two done?" Meredith interrupts.

"What?" Derek responds, not realizing that she had just heard their conversation.

"Are you done with your little competition?" She asks, giving them an amused grin. "Dr. Green, you know Dr. Sloan, correct?"

"Yeah, I have seen him around the hospital." She says with a smile. "Your wife is up in NICU, right?"

"Yep, Rebecca." Mark says proudly.

"Dr. Sloan is a family friend. He and Derek have known one another since grade school. They were actually just about to go find another table to sit at, weren't you boys?" Meredith says, hinting.

"Huh?" Mark responds.

"Yeah, we were going to go sit over there." Derek says, kicking Mark in the leg, knowing that she wanted a little more privacy.

"OW. Yeah, we were going over there." Mark says, glaring at Derek.

"I'll see you soon." Meredith says, leaning over to give Derek a kiss as he stood up and brought his lunch to another table, with Mark following close behind.

---------------------------------------------------

Derek and Mark sit at a table not too far away, Derek watching Meredith the entire time, sending her a smile, each time she glanced at him.

"You broke into my house?" Mark accuses. Derek ignores him and continues looking at Meredith. "Derek! Stop staring and start paying attention! You broke into my house?" He asks again.

"I didn't break anything." Derek says, glancing at Mark for a second, then moved his gaze back.

"How did you get into the house then?"

"Key." Derek says simply, looking down at his tray. "Hey, have you seen my pudding cup?"

"Key? Where did you get a key to my house?"

"Your son, why? I'm serious; I could have sworn that I got one of those pudding cups." He says as he moves a few things around on his tray.

"How much crap did you eat, anyway? You probably ate it and forgot. My son? Why did Matthew give you a key to my house?"

"Because I have dirt on him, I am his boss, and because he is marrying 'my' daughter. I have ways to make his life very miserable. Besides, I asked him and he gave it to me. I did not eat my pudding cup! The empty cup would be here on my tray!" Derek says.

"Shut up about the goddamned pudding cup! So you broke…"

"Walked…."

"So you walked into my house, went upstairs and slept with Meredith? How did I not know?"

"Because she kicked me out this morning. You were in the kitchen. I am serious, did you take my pudding cup?" Derek says, rummaging over Mark's tray.

"Did you guys talk yet?" Mark asks, slapping Derek's hands away from his tray.

"No, not yet. We'll probably talk tonight." Derek says, leaning back in his chair, looking at this tray exasperated.

"Hmm…" Mark says, suddenly his pager goes off. "Well, I have to go. I'll talk to you later. Oh, and by the way, you haven't been watching her lately, have you?" Mark says, pointing over at Meredith.

Derek grins widely as he looks over at Meredith's table as she playfully scoops the last bit of pudding from the pudding cup, looks over at Derek with a seductive smile and licks the last bits of chocolate from the spoon.

Derek picked up his tray and throws the contents away, and walks over to Meredith's table.

"Hey, where did Dr. Green go?" Derek says, sitting down.

"She headed back down to the conference. We should probably go back too." Meredith says, taking his hand, bringing him closer to her.

"What do you say we play hooky? You know… we can go back to Mark's place and 'talk' what do you say?" Derek says as he reaches over and lightly runs his finger across the corner of her mouth, where a little bit of chocolate pudding had been left.

He starts to pull his hand away to lick the pudding from his finger when she reaches out and grabs his hand. She gently places his finger in her mouth and seductively licks the pudding off. "I don't know Dr. Shepherd. My boss sent me here to go to this conference. If he finds out that I skipped part of it to go off with you, I could get in a lot of trouble." Meredith teases as she smiles seductively watching his reaction to sucking on his finger, and gently lets go.

"Really? What kind of trouble?" Derek asked, pulling out the chair to sit across from her, he sits down so that their knees are touching slightly and he reaches over to take her hand.

"Well I could get fired. I sure don't want that to happen, Dr. Shepherd." Meredith grins widely. "But you know what?" She squeezes his hand a little and tilts her head slightly. "I have my boss wrapped around my little finger. I bet you that I could get away with it."

"Oh yeah, huh? You have him wrapped around your little finger?"

"Uh huh." She smiles.

"Then let's go talk." He says as he stands up, her hand in his. "But first, we have to stop at the store."

"The store?" Meredith says as she stands up.

Derek stares deeply into her eyes for a second, just to see the smile in her eyes. "Yeah, we need to get some pudding cups." He says with a shiver.

Meredith laughs. "Ok, let's go to the store then." She says as they exit the cafeteria, hand in hand.


	48. Chapter 48

Chapter 48-

December 23rd 2031-

"When are they getting in?" Katie asks as she rolls over in bed to face Matthew.

"They'll be here in the morning, but they insisted in staying in a hotel this time." Matt responds, kissing her lightly.

"Good, your mother drives me crazy. Do you know she had the guts enough to call me up and quiz me on breastfeeding?" Katie asked.

"She asked you about breastfeeding? That's not an odd question, you're pregnant, she works with babies, she was curious." Matt responded.

"I know, but she acted like she knows so much more than I do. It makes me angry, like she thinks that she will be able to take care of our baby better than we can. I don't know, maybe I'm just being irrational." Katie says, her voice softer.

"Don't worry, sweetheart, you're going to be a great mommy. The best mommy there is." Matt says pulling her closer to him.

"You promise?"

"I super promise." Matt says, kissing her forehead. "Now get to sleep, little girl, we have a long couple days ahead of us. This is our first Christmas together, aren't you excited?"

"More than you'll ever know." Katie smiles as she cuddles with him, falling asleep quickly.

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December 24th 2031- 12 pm-

"Hey." Meredith calls Derek on the phone. "When are you coming home? The kids will be here at 4 and Mark and Rebecca will be here at 5. You can't hide at the hospital all night."

"Why would I hide at the hospital all night? I want to spend every waking moment with you. It's not my fault you elected to take today off so you could clean the house." Derek teases.

"Ok, enough with the flirting, Casanova. When are you going to be home?"

"I'm home right now." Derek responds as she hears the front door close, and his voice echoes.

"You're a smart ass." Meredith replies as she sees him walking through the kitchen door, with the phone still to his ear.

"Why thank you. Hold on just a second, I have to kiss someone." He says as he smiles brightly and closes his phone. Meredith hangs up the phone and walks to him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"Merry Christmas, sweet girl." Derek says as he kisses her on the lips.

"Merry Christmas, workaholic." She teases, hugging him. "Time to wrap some presents! She turns to reveal a table with several gifts for their friends and family."

"Hey! This is entrapment!"

"Damn straight, now go get the scissors." She giggles.

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Matthew, Katie and Jack and Charlotte arrive at 4 and the Sloan's at 5. The families sit down for a pleasant Christmas Eve meal and talk happily about all of their past Christmas holidays and other family gatherings, laughing at all of the funny things that they had done through the years.

"Do you remember the first time we all went camping together, all three families?" Derek asked, still laughing from the story that they had told earlier.

"I don't think I'll ever forget!" Rebecca laughed at the memory.

_"Once upon a time there was a…" nine year old Katie started._

"Dummy, you don't start off a ghost story with 'once upon a time'" Matthew argues.

"You can start off a ghost story with anything you want, dork head." Katie says, pushing him.

"Once upon a time! Once upon a time!" three year old Charlotte squealed from her sleeping bag.

"You guys are supposed to be sleeping." Came the whispered voice of Mark from outside the tent.

"We're telling ghost stories daddy!" Matthew calls to his father.

"Ok, keep it down though. We're over by the campfire if you guys need anything, so keep it down ok? Goodnight."

"GOODNIGHT!" All four kids scream, and giggle when Mark makes a disgusted sound as he walks away.

"Can we get back to our ghost story?" Matthew complains.

"I have to go pee." Jack complains, wiggling in his sleeping bag.

"Shut up Bubbles, you don't have to pee, you're just being a baby." Katie says.

"Shut up! I want to tell a ghost story!" Matthew says, frustrated.

"Ok. Once upon a time…" Katie starts.

"KATIE!" Matthew screams.

"Fine… Once upon a big scary hill…"

"Shut up!"

"I really have to pee…" Jack insists.

"I have to pee too." Charlotte says quietly.

"Oh my GOD! Stop talking about peeing, you big babies!" Katie yells.

"I'm leaving." Matthew says, reaching for the zipper of the tent.

"No no no! Tell your ghost story." Katie says, grabbing Matthew's hand, to get him to sit back down. "I'm sorry, just tell your story."

Matthew sits down and begins to tell his ghost story, he puts the flashlight on his face and starts to talk in a creepy voice. "October started out just like any other October. The weather was turning cool and the leaves were beginning to change into brilliant orange and yellow colors. One Saturday, my dad's friends and him got together and decided to make a scarecrow. Being creative, they gathered their supplies and got to work. This scarecrow was to be different. This was a special design. He wanted a creepy scarecrow, much scarier than the others. Hours later, he finished up. Indeed, he was the ugliest, most frightening scarecrow they had ever seen.

His Mom called them for supper so they planted the scarecrow out in the cornfield, where they could see it from his bedroom window. Not giving it any more thought, they went in and ate. Soon, the wind picked up and it began lightening. No storm was forecasted but it looked like they were in for a rough night.

Light rain began falling as they went up to bed. My dad was worried about his new scarecrow so he peeked out the window. What he saw shocked him. He was there alright, but not where they had placed him. It appeared to him that he was several feet to the right. Puzzled, he stood at the window and watched intently. The lightening was bright and every time it flashed, he could see the scarecrow. The problem was, it looked as if he was moving when the sky was dark, only to turn up in another spot when the sky lit up.

Thinking that he must be imagining things, he put his pajamas on and went to bed. Later on, a loud CRACK …." Matthew said, clapping his hands loudly.

Just as Matthew said 'crack' a small stick fell onto the tent from above. "AHHHHHHHH" All of the children began screaming hysterically. Matthew grabbed the flashlight and unzipped the tent, the four children ran in all different directions screaming hysterically.

"I remember that!" Meredith laughed. They ran in all directions, we couldn't find them for about fifteen minutes.

"Jack and Charlotte both peed their pajamas!" Katie laughs.

"Shut up!" Jack says laughing.

"We used to have so much fun!" Mark said, everyone still laughing about the camping story.

"Remember the Christmas that 'Santa' came?" Jack says, making everyone erupt into gales of laughter.

---------------------------------------------

"I don't think I remember that story." Charlotte laughed as she leaned back against Jack on the couch.

"Well, it was Christmas eve, and we were all getting ready to eat dinner, when the doorbell rang."

_::Ding Dong::_

"Who can that be?" Meredith asks as she starts to get up from the table.

"Oh! OH! That must be Santa!" Seven year old Katie squealed as she jumped off her chair and ran towards the door.

"Santa? What are you talking about, Katie?" Meredith asks as she approaches her daughter near the front door.

"Yes, mommy! I invited Santa to come eat dinner with us tonight!" Katie says as she whips the door open quickly. A old chubby man dressed with a red shirt and white tie, with black khakis stands in front of them. He has a white beard and a red baseball cap on. "HI SANTA!" Katie says happily as she reaches out to grab the man's hand.

"Um…" Meredith is speechless as she stands there, staring at the man at the door as she grabs Katie's hand and pulls her aside. "Sweetheart. Go get your daddy please."

"Why mama? This is Santa! He is here for dinner!"

"Now, Katherine, go get daddy."

Katie shrugs her shoulders and smiles. "Okey dokey." She says as she turns and skips into the dining room.

"Can I help you?" Meredith asks the man standing at the door.

"I am really sorry about this. I'm Mr. Bandie" The man says as he holds his hand out. Meredith warily shakes it and can feel Derek's hand protectively touch her waist as he comes up beside her.

"Can we help you?" Derek asks as he holds out his hand to the stranger, who kindly shakes it.

"I'm a janitor at Katie's school. She seems to think I'm Santa. She invited me to come to dinner, and I'm not here to eat, I just wanted to come and say Merry Christmas. The little girl was so excited when she asked me to come over, I didn't want her to be disappointed. I just wanted to bring her and your family a gift." He says as he pulls out a decorative box from beside him. "I hope you all have a very nice Christmas." Mr. Bandie says as he hands the box to Derek and turns to walk away.

Derek turns to Meredith, who shrugs her shoulders a little. "Mr. Bandie?" Derek says. The man turns his head. "We're having dinner right now, if you're interested. It would be our pleasure for you to join us." Derek smiled as he put his arm around Meredith's waist.

"Oh, you don't want to feed an old coot like me." Mr.Bandie says with a smile. "You kids have a nice Christmas."

Meredith stepped forward. "No, Mr. Bandie, we insist. Please come and share Christmas dinner with us. We would really like it." She smiled.

"Well, Ok. You people are so kind." Mr. Bandie said as he walked back up the steps and into the house, Derek helped him with his coat and they walked into the dining room together.

"What was in the box?" Matthew asked.

"Oh, it was this beautiful afghan that his daughter had knitted. He said she made them for a living, and that she gave them away as Christmas gifts." Meredith said smiling at the memory.

"It's the one right there." Derek says, pointing at the afghan behind Katie and Matt on the couch. "Your mother takes it out at Christmas time, just to remember that day. Mr. Bandie was a very nice man." Derek smiled.

"And he was Santa, you know." Katie laughed as she sipped her egg nog.

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December 25, 2031- 8pm-

Dinner was over, presents had been opened and the evening was winding down. "We're going to go for a little drive, mom." Jack says to Meredith as he kisses her on the cheek. "Thanks for a great Christmas. Char and I just want to go out and talk for a while, I want to give her the birthday gift that I bought for her." Jack says with a smile.

"Alright, you guys drive carefully and don't get into any trouble." Meredith says as she watches Jack help Charlotte with her coat.

Jack and Charlotte walk outside into the cold and make their way to the car. Jack opens the door and ushers her inside as he gently closes the door behind her. He gets into the drivers side and sits down, turning the car on. "Ok, where do you want to go?" Jack says, leaning his head back on the seat, turning his head to look at her.

She bends over and tugs on his jacket, pulling him to face her slightly. "Take me for a ride, Jackson." She giggles as she kisses him lightly on the lips, she moves back into her seat and they both smile as he slips the car into gear.

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December 25, 2031- 8pm-

Dinner was over, presents had been opened and the evening was winding down. "We're going to go for a little drive, mom." Jack says to Meredith as he kisses her on the cheek. "Thanks for a great Christmas. Char and I just want to go out and talk for a while, I want to give her the birthday gift that I bought for her." Jack says with a smile.

"Alright, you guys drive carefully and don't get into any trouble." Meredith says as she watches Jack help Charlotte with her coat.

Jack and Charlotte walk outside into the cold and make their way to the car. Jack opens the door and ushers her inside as he gently closes the door behind her. He gets into the drivers side and sits down, turning the car on. "Ok, where do you want to go?" Jack says, leaning his head back on the seat, turning his head to look at her.

She bends over and tugs on his jacket, pulling him to face her slightly. "Take me for a ride, Jackson." She giggles as she kisses him lightly on the lips, she moves back into her seat and they both smile as he slips the car into gear.

---------------------------------------------

They drove for a while longer, Jack glancing over at Charlotte every once in a while, getting more and more excited as they went. She seemed to be fidgeting in her seat in excitement, which in turn made Jack even more excited.

"Where are we going?" She said slower this time, trying to get his eye contact for a second.

He looked her right in the eyes. "You'll have to wait." He said slowly, laughing at the dirty look she gives him. "There's that look again, you're making me so hot." He says laughing, she gives him another dirty look. "Oh, you're going to have to stop that, or I'm not going to be able to drive." He teases, making her laugh. "Here we are." Jack says as he pulls the car into the marina parking lot.

"You got me a boat?" Charlotte says incredulously.

"Hush, I didn't 'got you a boat'" Jack says quietly as he parks the car and gets out. He opens her door and she steps out onto the slushy, wet ground. Shivering a little in the cold, he puts his arm around her and leads her to the sidewalk. They walk a little ways until they come upon one of the private boat houses along the marina. Jack carefully pulls his keys from his pocket and fiddles with the lock. He unlocks the door carefully and pulls the padlock off. "Close your eyes."

"No." She says, crossing her arms.

"Fine." Jack says as he starts to put the padlock back on the door.

"No no no!!! I'll close my eyes!" She says as she covers her eyes, begging for him to open the door.

"Ok, I'm opening the door, promise that you won't peek." He says as he takes the padlock off the door and starts to open the door.

"I promise." She says softly.

Jackson opens the door and walks inside. He turns the light on inside the small boathouse and carefully ushers her inside. He closes the door behind them to keep the cold out, and secures it. "Hang on a second." He says as he moves something around, "Ok, open your eyes." He says grinning.

She opens her eyes and looks over at Jack for a second. "What is this?" She asks with a smile. Before her is what looks to be a boat, covered with a very large blanket.

"It is one of your presents." He replies smiling, "open it up."

Charlotte moved forward towards the gift, and carefully begins to pull away the heavy blanket. She gasped at what was revealed under the blanket as her eyes filled with tears.

"This is only one of your gifts you know." He said, holding his hand out to hers.

She takes his hand in hers as she gently pulled the rest of the blanket down to reveal a beautifully handcrafted, wooden fishing boat. It was obvious that it was made from scratch. Every cut, divot, every brushstroke and every nail was carefully placed together and finished with a beautiful mahogany finish. She carefully runs her finger along the wooden surface and looks up at Jack with a very surprised expression. "Did you make this?" She asks, her voice in almost a whisper.

"Yes. My grandfather and I started this boat when I was eight years old. I used to work on it with him when we would visit his house in the summer. When he died, we had it shipped here and I just finished it a few weeks ago. What do you think?" Jack said proudly.

"You are not giving me this boat." She says sternly , looking at him with purpose in her eyes. "You can't give me this boat." She says, her eyes going directly back to the boat, tracing her fingers over the smooth wood.

"But I am. I want you to share it with me. It would mean the world to me. Besides, I already named it." He said softly. He took her hand and carefully led her to the side of the boat, where, carefully painted onto the side in a delicate scrawling font, were the words: 'Jackson's Second Love'.

"You didn't do this for me, did you?" Charlotte said, her glance and fingers continuing to navigate over the smooth wooden surface.

"I do everything for you." Jack said, taking her hand and bringing himself close to her. "Everything." He whispers as he puts his lips onto hers, she hungrily brings her hands up and deepens the kiss, wrapping her arms around his neck, she lifts herself up and wraps her legs around his hips, never breaking the kiss. He supports her with his hands as they travel from her butt, under her coat and shirt, rubbing his warm hands on her cool body as he gently lays her down on the blanket that is now on the floor.

They hastily pull their jackets off as they continue to make out in the peacefulness of the boathouse, shivering as they remove their clothing, Jack pulls the blanket around them.

They passionately make love in the muted light of the boathouse, with their hearts full of love and their minds full of thoughts of the future, and memories of the past. They give themselves to one another as if they were always meant to be together.

After making love, they lie on the floor breathless, wrapped in the blanket and one another as they cuddle. Jack whispers sweet words of love in Charlotte's ear as he gently kisses away her tears of happiness.

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Jackson and Charlotte hold one another close until the cool, winter weather begins to bite through the blanket. Charlotte lifts her face from his chest and looks up into his eyes, which have never left her body once.

"Hey, do you think we should get going soon?" She asked softly as she kissed his chin.

"We probably should. Are you alright?" Jack asked, kissing her nose.

"That has to be the thirtieth time you have asked me that, what did I say before, when you asked me?" Charlotte giggled.

"You said you were absolutely perfect." He smiled. "Do you need help with anything?" He asked as she started moving around under the blanket, gathering her clothing without letting her skin hit the cold December air.

"Just keep me warm." She says as she slips her jeans on while still under the blanket, handing him his pants.

"I'll keep you warm." He says as he rolls on top of her, nuzzling her neck, making her squeal.

"No!" She giggles. "I'm trying to put my clothes 'on'!" She laughs as she rolls him off of her and grabs her shirt from beside her, carefully putting it on and grabbing her coat. "Besides, you said that I have more presents." She laughed as he lay on his back, his chest bare, his arms behind his head with his eyes closed, pretending to be sleep. "HEY!" she says, smacking him with his shirt. He doesn't move. She bends down and kisses his lips softly, pulling away she opens her eyes, only to meet this. "Where are my other presents?" She says mischeviously.

"You're spoiled." He says, sitting up quickly, kissing her and standing up to put his clothes on.

"So?" She says as she stands up next to him, picking up the blanket and carefully covering the boat up. She takes one last look at the boat. "You know, it is very beautiful." She says softly as she carefully runs her fingers along the wood of the boat.

Jackson steps forward and runs his fingers across her cheek. "Every beautiful thing deserves another." He says softly, leaning forward for a kiss as he takes her hand, turns the light off in the boathouse and leads her out the door. "Let's go get that other birthday gift" He says as he locks the padlock and leads her to the car.

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Jackson leads her to the car and opens her door for her, bending down to kiss her as she carefully got inside. He shivered at her touch, making her giggle as he walked to the other side of the car and got inside.

"Ok, so where is it?" She says with a big grin.

"I am not telling you." He laughs as she rolls her eyes and gives him a dirty look.

"Keep giving me looks like that, and we're going back in the boathouse." He laughs as she turns to face the window.

They drive towards the city in a comfortable silence, holding hands. "You ready for your next present?" He asks as they pull into a familiar parking lot.

"Why are we here? Its closed." She laughs as she sees the sign in the window. 'Shirt, two shoes, or no service'

"I know its closed, but this is a special place for us, so I wanted to give you your gift here." He smiles as he bends in front of her and opens the glove compartment. He carefully pulls out a jewelry box, wrapped in a pretty blue paper, with a bow tied haphazardly to the top.

"What's this?" She asks, a bright smile on her face, her eyes twinkling.

"You always ask that before you open a present, do you want me to tell you, or do you want to open it?" He says as he reaches for the box. She pulls it from his reach.

"No, I don't know. I'm just not used to this. The last present you gave me was a wedgie when we were seven years old." Charlotte says.

"No, the last present I gave you, was me." He says, leaning over to kiss her. "Now open it, or I'm taking it back." He says, reaching for it.

"Do you want me to bite you?"

"OPEN IT!" He says with a fake frustrated yell. 

"Ok, ok… I'm opening, I'm opening." She says with a laugh as she carefully removes the bow from the top. She then slips her finger under the creases from the wrapping and revealed a blue jewelry box. She opened the box and gasped a little at the beauty of what lay inside. "Why… why… why…?" She asks as she pulls out a beautiful blue-pearl necklace, with gold spacers, and a small drop pearl in the front, she is speechless.

"What? You don't like it?" He asks. "I can take it back. I mean, I didn't know what to get, if you don't like it then you can…" His ramble is silenced by a kiss.

"I love it." She said, looking at the necklace, and back at Jack. "I love you." She said grinning.

"I thought you might like it. You know, I didn't know if you'd like my boat, so I thought I'd get you something pretty, since you're a girl and all." He laughed.

"Finally figured it out, huh?" She laughs. "Oh, and by the way. It's my boat." She smiles.

"I love you, so much Charlotte Burke, Happy birthday." Jack leans in for a kiss.

"I love you too, Jacks." She leans in and kisses him back.


	49. Chapter 49

Chapter 49-

January 21st 2032- 10:45- Maternity floor- SGH

"Matthew, where the hell are you?" Katie growled into her cell phone.

"I'm downstairs, your father has me running labs on three of his patients." Matthew says as he hurriedly rushes down the hall with the charts.

"How far are you from him?" Katie asks, obviously irritated.

"About ten feet, why? I just have to give him the labs, and I'll be right up. Hang on a second." Matt says as he pulls the phone from his ear. Katie can hear the conversation on the other side.

"Hey, Dr. Shepherd, here are those labs that you wanted." Matthew says as he hands over the labs to Derek.

"Oh, thanks Matt, can you do me another quick run? I have a patient in 234 that needs a CT done."

"Well… actually…" Matt starts to explain, indicating the phone.

"Appointment?" Derek mouths, rubbing his hand on his belly. Matthew smiles and nods. "Matthew, no excuses, you have to do the CT in 234, there is a patient in 532 that needs an enema and four patients in the ICU that need to have their vitals checked and checked again, do you have all of that, Dr. Sloan?" Derek says, hearing his daughter screaming through the cell phone.

"Yes sir, Dr. Shepherd. I won't keep you waiting on those things. I'll get right on them." Matthew says as Derek waves him off to go to the appointment, laughing as Matt walks away with a big grin on his face.

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Matthew takes the stairs two at a time to the maternity floor, the phone still on, with Katie yelling at him the whole way, so he knows that she is staying put. He opens the door to the stairwell and watches her down the hallway as she is yelling in the phone,

"And another thing Matthew…. I swear to GOD! If you don't…." he sneaks up behind her and puts his arms around her waist. "Hey, I thought you were…" He silences her with a kiss behind the ear as he takes her phone out of her hand and closes it. He drops it in her purse and takes her hand.

"Let's go, my love. It's time to find out if our Melvin is a boy or a girl." He smiled broadly.

"If you say that name one more time…" Katie smiled.

"You'll kiss me." He said as he excitedly walked her down the hallway.

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The doctor came in and greeted them, setting Katie up on the ultrasound. Matthew didn't stop beaming the entire time.

"Hey, I'm sitting here for all the world to see, and you have a big grin on your face." Katie laughs at him as the doctor turns the machine.

"Hey, we can always invite your parents in." Matt says, smiling at her. She gives him a look and he smiles wider. "Do we want to know what it is?" Matthew asked.

"Well its too late now, silly, its up on the screen. I can already tell that it's a girl." Katie says as she looks over at the doctor for confirmation.

"Yep, a healthy little girl." The doctor says with a smile, looking at Matthew. He can't take his eyes off the screen.

"A little girl." He mumbles happily as he stares at the screen.

"Matt?" Katie says, trying to get his attention. She reaches her hand out to him and he holds it tightly. He continues to watch the screen. "Matty!" Katie says a little louder. He turns and smiles at her.

"That's our little girl." He says as he rolls the chair he is on closer to Katie. He leans over and kisses her cheek. "I love you." He says softly.

"I love you too." Katie says as a tear rolls down her cheek.

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Katie and Matthew walk out of their appointment beaming. They can't wait to tell everyone the news about the baby. Katie leans her head on Matt's shoulder as they wait for the elevator to open. The door opens and Katie rolls her eyes as she walks inside and sees Derek standing there looking at them with an expectant smile on his face.

Matthew smiles and leans against the back of the elevator, pulling Katie backwards to lean against him.

"So?" Derek asked excitedly.

"So?" Katie smiled at her father's expression. She looked up at Matt and back at her father as the elevator door opened. Derek stepped forward to stop the door. "It's a boy, Dad." Katie grinned.

"A boy! That's great!" Derek laughed as he stepped out of the elevator. "I can't wait to tell everyone!" Derek smiled and waved as the doors closed. Katie and Matt were silent for a few seconds as the elevator started to move again. They both let out the breath they had been holding since they told Derek and immediately began to giggle. "I can't believe we just did that to him!" Katie laughed.

"I know!" Matt laughed. "He is going to kill us!"

The elevator door opened on the surgical floor. "We have to go tell my mother the truth! Let's go!" She says as she takes his hand and they hurry down the hallway laughing.

---------------------------------------------

Katie and Matthew run down the hallway towards the OR 1 Gallery. They look down in the room and Meredith is just coming out of the scrub room to start the surgery. She looks up and sees the two excited kids smiling down at her. The nurse turns on the intercom as Meredith smiles under her mask.

"So what's the word, hummingbird?" Meredith asks as they continue prepping the patient for surgery.

"It's a girl!" Katie says excitedly into the intercom.

"A girl! That's great! I am so happy for you sweetheart!" Meredith says, beaming under her mask.

"We're going to go celebrate! Matty's taking the rest of the afternoon off for me!" Katie said happily.

"I'll see you later, sweetheart. Love you." Meredith says as she watches Katie leave the gallery and begins to focus for the surgery.

Several minutes later, while Meredith is waiting for one of the scrub nurses to show up, she hears a familiar voice over the intercom.

"Hey Meri! We're going to have a grandson!" Derek says proudly into the intercom. 

Meredith looks up and furrows her brow. "A what?"

"A grandson! Katie's having a boy!" Derek said excitedly. "I have to go tell everyone!" He says as he quickly switches off the intercom and runs out of the gallery.

"Der… crap… what did they do to him?" Meredith shakes her head and laughs as her scrub nurse enters the room.

---------------------------------------------

10:00pm-

:Ring ring:

"Hello?" Katie says bending over Matthew to get to the phone beside the couch. "Hi mom."

"Katherine, you have to straighten things out with your father." Meredith said sternly.

"What do you mean?" Katie says with a giggle, eliciting a smile from Matthew.

"He doesn't believe me that you're having a girl. He went shopping today and bought all this baby clothes, its all for little boys. He bought a mobile with little baseballs and bats, he bought little boy sneakers and… Katherine! Do something soon please! He has told everyone that he's going to have a grandson!"

"What do you want me to do? Break his heart?" Katie giggles.

"This isn't funny!" Meredith says into the phone. "Here, talk to him!" Meredith says as she hands the phone over to Derek.

"Hey sweetie. How are you feeling?" Derek says sweetly into the phone.

"I'm doing very well, daddy. What are you doing this evening?" She asks.

"Oh, just hanging around. You mother keeps telling me that you're having a girl, she's driving me crazy! Wait until you see all of the cool things I bought for him!" Derek said proudly.

"Geez dad, you're really going to spoil this baby." Katie said with a little giggle.

"Your mother has been acting really strange, I don't know why she's so convinced that it's a girl." Derek said into the phone. "It is a boy, right?" Derek asks.

"Yep. It's a boy." Katie replies. "I should get going dad, I have a couple of things to do before bed. Goodnight." Katie says with a little giggle.

"Ok, sweetheart, tell Matty that I said hi. I'll see you two later. Love you." Derek says.

"Love you too, Daddy." Katie says as she closes her cell phone. The then opens it and shuts it off, laughing to herself. "My mother is going to kill us too." Katie giggles as she sets the phone back down on the table.

Matt laughs back as she pulls her up for a kiss.

---------------------------------------------

January 29, 2032- 8pm-

"I can't believe that I had to work on my birthday! Its just not fair, and then I was on call last night. I am so absolutely exhausted! I can't wait to just get home and go to sleep." Katie says as she gets into the car carefully. "I feel like I'm carrying around a gigantic watermelon!" She says as she looks over at Matthew, who is just smiling at his grumpy fiancé, letting her get all of her frustration out of the way. She smiles at him and he leans over and kisses her.

"We'll have a nice dinner and then we'll go to bed, we can celebrate your birthday this weekend, what do you think?" Matt says happily as he puts the car in gear and begins the long ride home. They drive in relative silence and when they pull into the driveway, Katie immediately notices something about the house.

"Did you go home today at all?" Katie asks as she looks at the light on upstairs.

"Nope. I was at the hospital all day, I didn't leave that light on, did you?"

"I don't remember. That's weird." Katie says as she gets out of the car. She slowly makes her way to the house while Matthew opens the front door for her. She walks into the house and is met with a chill down her spine. "This is weird." Katie says as she looks around the room.

"What do you mean? Nothing is different, no one is here, what's wrong?" Matt says as he comes in behind her and closes the door.

"I don't know, I just kind of feel weird, maybe I just need to go upstairs and nap a little before I eat." Katie says as she kisses Matt and walks up the stairs slowly. Matthew stays downstairs and goes into the kitchen. He starts to get things ready to make for dinner when suddenly he hears Katie scream from upstairs. "MATTHEW!" She yells from atop the stairs. Before she is even finished saying his name, he is running towards the stairs.

"What is it Katie, are you alright?" Matthew says, panicking. As soon as he gets to the top of the stairs, he sees her standing in the doorway to the nursery with a shocked look on her face. As soon as he reached the doorway, he knew exactly what had caught her attention.

"I think he knows." Katie said as she stepped into the room.

The room was painted a bright white, with a strip of pink wallpaper border around the room, decorated with pink and purple flowers. There was a beautiful white crib set up in the corner of the room, decorated with pink and purple blankets and stuffed animals. The changing table that matched the crib was set up beside it, stocked full of diapers and baby wipes and burping clothes. Beside that was a beautiful antique dresser filled to the brim with baby clothes, blankets, anything you could imagine a baby would need. A little purple rug lay on the floor next to the crib, and a beautiful pink and purple tapestry hang above the crib, decorated with flowers and butterflies. Across the room was a white bookshelf filled with books and stuffed animals, below it sat a little white table, with three little chairs, with a stuffed animal in each chair and a little tea-cup for each place. Katie walked around the room, touching all of the beautiful things.

When she got to the crib, she opened a little envelope that was hanging from the little mobile that hang above it. She smiled when she saw her father's handwriting across the envelope. 'Katie-bug'.

She carefully opened the note and looked over at Matthew. "What does it say?" He asked, moving closer.

"It says. 'Katie-bug, you think you're so clever, don't you. Happy Birthday. I hope she likes it. Love Always, Daddy.' How do you think he knew?" Katie asked, tears springing into her eyes.

"Your father knows everything, Katie. He just does." Matthew said as he stepped forward, and hugged her from behind, kissing her softly on the head as he rubbed her swollen tummy.

---------------------------------------------

The next day, Katherine is at work in Mercy West. Izzie has asked her to participate in a surgery in the NICU and she happily obliged. It was a fairly simple procedure and was not to take a very long time, however there were some complications having to do with the blood flow to the baby and Katie started to feel light headed.

"Dr. Shepherd, are you alright?" Izzie asked as she continued the procedure, noticing that Katie is sweating profusely as she stand there.

"Yes, Dr. O'Malley, I'm alright, just a little lightheaded." Katie said honestly.

"Dr. Shepherd, why don't you take a step back and we'll have one of the other interns scrub in." Izzie turns to one of the nurses. "Can you get Dr. Graber in her please, to replace, Dr. Shepherd. She's not feeling well." The nurse goes to get the other Doctor, but Izzie can't seem to keep her eyes off of Katie. She concentrates on the surgery at hand and suddenly she hits a bleeder. Izzie starts barking orders, but before she can say anything more, Katie has passed out and landed on the floor.

"GET SOMEONE IN HERE NOW!" Izzie screams as she controls the bleeding on the patient and watches Katie lying helpless on the ground at the same time.

---------------------------------------------

"Dr. Sloan, this is Dr. Martin over at Mercy West." The man over the phone said as Matthew answered his 911 page.

"What happened?" Matthew asked as he began to panic, pacing back and forth. "Where's Katie, is she alright?" He started speaking quickly, getting the attention of Meredith, who is walking down the hallway.

"Matty, what's going on?" Meredith asked, gently putting her hand on his shoulder.

"Well, Dr. Shepherd had a little bit of a fainting spell over here and she did fall and hit her head… but…"

"But what? Is she alright?" Matthew says, looking up at Meredith with pleading eyes. "Katie fell." He says simply, Meredith immediately takes the phone from Matthew.

"Doctor, this is Dr. Meredith Shepherd over at Seattle Grace, I'm also Katie's mother. Can you please just tell us if Katie is alright? Yes… yeah… uhuh… He'll be right over. Thank you, Doctor." Meredith says, snapping the phone closed. She hands the phone back to Matthew. "The doctor said that she fell. She hit her head, but she's alright and the babies are doing just fine too. She wants to see you as soon as you can get over there." Meredith said as she turned and started to walk down the hallway.

Matthew stands in the hall, staring after Meredith in shock. "Meredith!" he calls. She turns around and looks at him. "Did you say 'babies'? As in… more than one? As in…. plural? Did you just say that?"

A huge grin spreads across her face as she sees the look of complete panic pass over the young man's face. "Oh yeah, and she found out you're having twins." Meredith laughed. "Now get over there!" He stares at her for several more seconds before Meredith sees him mentally kick himself and run down the hallway. Meredith laughs and walks down the hallway to find Derek.

---------------------------------------------

Matthew ran into the hospital at full speed. He was immediately stopped by Cristina. "Where do you think you're going so fast?" Cristina asks as she steps in front of him.

"I… have…to…. get…" He says out of breath.

"Did you run all the way here?" Cristina jokes. Matthew shakes his head as he tries to catch his breath. "You're going to have to get in better shape if you think you're going to be chasing two little kids around."

"You know?" Matt asked as he finally gained his composure.

"Of course I know. First of all, I'm one of her bosses. Second of all, Meredith has me on speed dial, and third of …. Why the hell am I explaining this to you, let's just get upstairs so that you can see her." Cristina finished as she led him to the elevators.

---------------------------------------------

Matthew ran into the hospital room ahead of Cristina and right to Katie's bedside. She was lying down with a huge grin across her face, talking to Izzie. Her smile became wider when she saw Matthew come in. 

"Hey!" He said happily as he ran to the other side of the bed and gave her a hug. "What happened?" He asked as he playfully tugged at the gauze bandage around her head. "You look like you're ready to go for a jog!" He said with a laugh.

"I was light headed in surgery. I saw the blood and I just passed out. I have never had that happen before. They took me in for some tests, to check on the baby, gave me some fluids and they found out that we're having twins, Matthew. A little girl and a little boy." She said happily, pulling him in for another hug.

"Wow. I didn't want to believe it until I heard it from you." Matt said softly. "So he was hiding behind her, huh?" Matt asks, still beaming with pride.

"Yeah. I think he takes after you." Katie giggled when he gave her a surprised look.

"Are you saying I hide behind girls?" Matt asked, giving her a tickle.

"No, I mean… I…. Yeah, that's what I meant!" Katie laughed as he gave her another kiss on the forehead.

Izzie and Cristina quietly slipped out of the room and let the two of them talk together while Katie rested.

---------------------------------------------

February 25, 2032-

"How did your shopping trip go today?" Derek asked as he handed Meredith a cup of hot cocoa and sat on the couch, pulling her into his arms.

"It went well. We bought a lot of boy things today. I am so looking forward to this, Derek, you have no idea." Meredith says with a little giggle. "She has a lot to learn though, and I hope that she and Matty can handle this, its going to really rock their world off kilter for a while." Meredith says, suddenly becoming concerned.

"They'll be alright. They just have to remember a few very important things. Number one, do not leave the ladder outside when not in use. Number two, never send the 'boys' grocery shopping, and number three, there is always the possibility of a 'toilet paper' wedding, no matter what time of the year." Derek laughed.

"Oh my GOD! I almost forgot about little 'superman'!" Meredith laughed as she thought back to her son's younger days.

_"Okay Charlotte, I'm going to get up really high on the garage, ok? So don't start yelling till I get up there, and then I'll fly down and rescue you, ok?" Eight year old Jackson says as he ties the little girl firmly to a tree with some rope that he found in the garage._

"Ok, Jackson!" Charlotte said with a giggle as she watched her friend run towards the ladder.

He climbs clumsily up the ladder and reaches the roof, carefully stepping off. The ladder tumbles to the ground as he accidentally kicks it over. "Oops." He says as he stands on the roof. "Ok, Charlotte, start yelling for Superman!" He calls below.

"Help!! HELP HELP SUPERMAN!!! HELP ME!" Charlotte starts to scream from her place at the tree.

Suddenly, the back door slammed open and Derek came running out of the house. He sees Charlotte tied to the tree and looks around frantically. "What the hell is going on out here?" Derek says confused.

Suddenly, Derek hears a crack as the gutter above him on the roof begins to crack. He looks up in time to see Jackson tumbling down off the roof above him. He screams out in fear as he falls head first down towards the ground. Derek steps forward and catches the boy roughly in his hands before he hits the hard ground.

Derek looks down at his son, a look of concern and anger passes over his face, but is immediately replaced with relief and laughter when he sees what his son is wearing. He is dressed in his superman pajamas with a pair of Meredith's stockings high on his body, a pair of underwear over the stockings completed the costume with a blue bath towel for a cape. "Are…. You…. Ok…?" Derek asks in between bouts of hysterical laughter.

Jackson looks worried at first, thinking that his father is going to yell at him, but immediately begins to laugh with him. Derek gently places Jack on the ground and points towards the tree. "Untie her now…. And get in the house…." Derek says, still laughing as he turns and walks into the house.

"All you did was take a bunch of pictures of him flexing his muscles, you didn't even yell at him!" Meredith exclaimed.

"How can you yell at a kid when he's dressed up like that? Its best to use that type of thing later in life as blackmail." Derek laughs as he sits back and reminisces about more of the past.

---------------------------------------------

March 11, 2032

Derek is sitting in his office doing paperwork when a hesitant knock comes to the door. "Come in." He says as he looks up, he sees Matthew standing hesitantly in the doorway. "Come on in, Matthew, what can I do for you?"

"I was wondering when you get off today, Dr. Shepherd. There's something I'd like to show you." Matt says with a small smile.

"Show me? What is it?" Derek asked.

"You'll have to come with me to find out." Matt says with a smile as he steps forward into the office.

"I'll be done in a couple of minutes. Have a seat." Derek says, as he finishes his work, every now and then throwing Matthew a suspicious glance.

---------------------------------------------

After Derek is through with his work, Matthew leads Derek to his car and silently gets inside. Matt drives in silence as they finally reach their destination. Matt parks the car and gets out, Derek gets out too.

"Mercy West?" Derek asks, a confused look crosses his face.

Matt just smiles and walks towards the front doors, Derek keeps up and follows him inside. They walk towards the elevator and go to the surgical floor and Matt leads him down the hallway. "What are we doing here, Matt?" Derek asks as he keeps up with his fast pace.

Matt stops in front of a door and puts his hand on the door handle. "Now its my turn to show you something." Matt says with a grin. He opens the door and leads Derek to the Gallery of OR 2. He sits down in one of the chairs and motions Derek to sit next to him.

"Its her first unassisted surgery." Derek says, without question.

"Yes it is." Matthew said with a smile. "I'd thought you'd like to watch." Matt says as he looks down at her. "She's a natural, Derek." Matt says with pride.

Derek leans over and watches the procedure carefully as his daughter begins the surgery. "That she is." Derek said proudly.

"I just wanted to show you 'my' most beautiful thing in the world." Matt said with a grin. Katie looks up at that moment and sees the two men in the gallery. She smiles under her mask, Derek and Matt smile back, seeing her eyes light up when she sees them.

"She looks just like her mother down there." Derek said softly.

"Derek. She is the most precious thing that I have. I love her more than I have ever loved anything in my entire life." Matt says, watching the procedure. He sighs and looks over at Derek. "I'm worried." Matt says honestly.

"Worried? About what? The babies? The babies will be just fine." Derek says, putting his hand on Matt's shoulder.

"No, I'm worried about her. What if she doesn't want to go back to her internship after the babies are born, what if she can't go back. Not physically, but mentally. She lives for surgery, she breathes surgery, just like any surgeon. She's a natural and I don't want her to lose that. She is special, she is talented, and I don't ever want her to think that her happiness should be sacrificed. I'm scared, Derek. I am really scared." Matthew says, looking over at Derek.

Derek is carefully studying the surgery below, Matthew isn't even sure that he was listening.

"Nevermind." Matt says softly as he looks on at the surgery.

Several seconds later, Derek turned to him and smiled. "Matthew, you know as well as I do, that Katherine will do what Katherine wants to do. She is not only talented and a natural, but she was also born with a brain in her head and a complex, stubborn, and sometimes logical sense about herself. Katie will not be unhappy. She will ensure that anything she does will be rewarded fully and she will not be happy unless you are happy and your children are happy. You don't have to worry about her Matty. Just support her. She's exactly like her mother."

"Look at those beautiful hands, Derek. Look at the way that they move, the tenderness in her touch, the way she is so soft and gentle with her patients. She is meant to be a surgeon, and I know she can do it. I just may need a little encouragement now and then to keep her going in the right direction." Matt said as he continued to watch the surgery.

"You love her, Matt. I have no doubt in your capabilities of making her happy." He says as they look down and together watch Katie as she continues working on her patient, every now and then peeking up to give them a smile.

"I do love her, Derek." Matt whispered.

"I know you do, Matt. I do too." Derek whispered back.

---------------------------------------------

April 9th 2032-

"Thank you so much for offering dinner tonight, Mom. It tastes delicious." Katie says as she eats her salad.

"It's not a problem at all sweetheart, we love to have you over. Besides, you've been working way too hard at the hospital. I'm glad the doctor put you on bed rest." Meredith said as she turned and smiled at Derek, who handed her the salt shaker with a smile.

"I don't want to sit around!" Katie whined as she glared over at Matt.

"Thank you Meredith, I've been telling her to go on leave for weeks now." Matthew says as he grins widely at Katie.

"Have you come up with any names yet?" Meredith asked, as Derek's attention was suddenly very intent on the conversation.

"Actually, we have." Katie said smiling and looking at Matt and back to her parents. We are thinking 'Ani' for the girl. It means 'very beautiful'." Katie said with a smile.

"Ani Piper" Matthew said proudly.

"Hmm, that's a very nice name." Meredith smiled. "I really like it." She looked over at Derek, who was nodding.

"And the boys name." Katie said, rolling her eyes at her father, who looked like he wanted to interrupt. "It's M… Dad, stop looking at me like that."

"Like what?"

"Like you're trying to prompt me to say what you think I'm going to say, which is not it at all. That is an awful name!" Katie said frustrated. Derek let out a laugh as she pretended to glare at him. Katie smiled again. "It's Michael, after dad's middle name. The middle names are Lucas Vincent." Katie smiled.

"Michael Lucas Vincent Sloan, huh?" Meredith says as she slowly puts the pieces together. She looks over at her daughter, who has a very amused look on her face. "Michael Lucas Vincent, huh?" Katie nods. "I absolutely love it!" Meredith said with a grin.

"She loves it." Katie says, giving Matt a sly grin.

"What? What's with all the grinning and giggling?" Derek asked.

"Nothing sweetheart, if you can't figure it out, then there must not be anything." Meredith said, rubbing his back a little. "Let's just eat and relax." Meredith said, looking over at Katie again, she gave out a little giggle.

"What?" Derek says.

"Nothing!" They all say in unison, followed by a little giggle.

---------------------------------------------

April 28th, 2032-

::Ding Dong::

"Jacks and Charlotte are here!" Katie yells from her spot on the couch, her feet up on the coffee table, her large belly forcing her to sit in a very uncomfortable position.

"Open the door for them!" Matt calls from the kitchen.

"Ok!" Katie says as she starts to put her feet on the floor to get up.

"NO YOU WON'T!" Matt yells, laughing as he runs through the living room to the door. "Sit back down, now!" He demands.

"Yes, sir." She laughs as she tries her best to make herself comfortable.

Matt opens the door and ushers Jack and Charlotte inside, taking their coats and hanging them up. "Katie's in the living room, I'll go get you guys a drink." Matt says as he walks through the living room, blowing Katie a kiss on his way to the kitchen.

"Katie! You're looking great!" Charlotte says as she runs over to her side and gives her a hug.

"You're being nice, I'm huge!" Katie exclaimed as she hugged Charlotte.

"I'm serious, you look great!" Charlotte said as she sat down next to Katie.

"No, I think she's right, Char. For a minute there, I thought that they had bought a camel and were keeping it in the living room." Jack said nodding.

"Shut up!" Katie said with a laugh, making Jack laugh. "You'd be huge too if you were carrying around two growing children in your abdomen."

Jack sat down and leaned back with his arms behind his head. "Lucky for me, I'll never have to experience that, Lard butt." Jack responded. "OW! WHAT THE…." Jack jumped when a bottle of water lands hard, between his legs. He looks behind him and Matt is smiling devilishly back at him. "Geez, watch where you throw things!" Jack says, with a half grin.

"Watch who you call 'lard butt', dummy." Matt says as he walks around the chair and hands another bottle of water politely to Charlotte. "You guys ready for dinner?" Matt asks as he reaches his hand out to help Katie up.

"Want me to get a crane?" Jack says, getting a glare from Matt. "Sorry…do you need some help?" He responds as he gets up and grabs Katie's other hand.

---------------------------------------------

After dinner, the four of them went into the living room to settle in front of the television to relax and talk.

"So when is our trip?" Matt asked as he handed a beer to Jack and sat down next to Katie on the couch, putting his arm around her.

"You aren't seriously going on a trip before the babies are born, are you?" Katie complained.

"Come on bug, it'll be my last time going to do something before the babies are born. Let me have a little adventure." Matt said, kissing her on the cheek.

"Yeah, give him a break, you're going to have him all to yourself. Besides, he is stuck at the hospital all the time anyway, let him have a little fun." Jack said, trying to convince her. "I was planning on leaving the day after school ends, I think it's the eighth of May. We can leave Saturday night and be back on Tuesday. What do you say?" Jack asked as he lay his head on Charlotte's shoulder.

"Fine, you can go hiking and camping. But NO climbing, do you hear me? If I hear you guys are going rock climbing I will be VERY angry." Katie says, poking at Matt. "I was adamant before, but now we're having two babies, I don't want to raise them alone." Katie said seriously.

"Come on, that's not fair. How is hiking and camping going to be 'fun'. I've never been climbing. I really wanted to go!" Matt complains.

"Yeah, are you serious? He won't ever get to go after the babies are born, this is so stupid." Jack said, pouting.

"NO CLIMBING!" Both girls yelled at the same time. The boys looked a little upset, but soon they were back to talking again.

---------------------------------------------

At the end of the evening, Jackson and Charlotte walked to the car in silence. When they got into the car, Charlotte turned to Jackson.

"Promise me." Charlotte said softly, putting her hand on Jackson's.

"Promise you what?" Jack asked as he pulled out of the driveway.

"Promise me you will not take Matt rock climbing. I don't want either of you to get hurt." Charlotte said.

Jack gave Charlotte an incredulous look. "Promise me, now." Charlotte said, digging her fingernails into his hand.

"Fine! I promise!" Jack said, trying to move his hand away.

"What do you promise? I'm not falling for this again!" She said as she held fast to his hand.

"I promise that I won't take Matt rock climbing!" Jack yelled as he yanked his hand out of her grasp. "Geez." He said, rubbing his hand.

"I'm warning you. You break that promise, and you'll have more than just me to deal with." Charlotte said angrily as Jack brought her home in silence.


	50. Chapter 50

Chapter 50-

MAY 8, 2032  
------------------------------

Katie sits at the kitchen table preparing Matthew's backpack for the trip when there is a knock at the door. "I think that's Jack." Katie said as she stood up and attempts to pick up the backpack. "OW!" she exclaims as she nearly topples over.

"Hey! What the heck do you think you're doing?" Matt exclaimed running to her side. "Don't you ever do that again!" He exclaimed.

"Or what?" Katie asked as she stuck her tongue out at him.

"Or else I'll have one of the babies kick you!" Matt laughed.

"You can't do…. OW! Ani! Don't kick mommy! How did you do that?" Katie asked.

"My babies listen to daddy." Matt said with a laugh. "How do you know it was Ani?" He asked.

"Because Michael doesn't kick his mommy, he only wiggles." Katie said proudly. "He actually loves his mommy, not like his bratty sister. OW!" She exclaims.

"Jack's been waiting at the door for a couple of minutes, maybe we should let him in?" Matt said, walking towards the door.

Katie walks towards him. "Why? So that he can take you away from me? Let the twerp stay outside." Katie said, leaning her head on his chest. "I'm sorry. I just have a really bad feeling about this trip." Katie mumbled as she looked up at him.

"Everything is going to be just fine, sweetheart." Matt said looking down at her.

"I wanna kiss!" She said, leaning up for a kiss. Suddenly there is another knock at the door.

"Gotta get that!" Matt exclaimed as he turned and ran from the kitchen and into the living room.

"Always with the running and the leaving…. Never with the kissing and loving…" Katie mumbled as she waited for him to return.

A couple minutes later, Jack and Matt walked in the kitchen with Charlotte close behind them. She walks to the table and carefully inspects Jackson's backpack. "What are you doing here, Char? Are you going with them too?" She asked hopefully.

"No" she whispered. "I had to make sure that he didn't sneak any climbing gear into the car when he got here. I know that you're not in any condition to be climbing through his car, but I am more than willing." Charlotte whispered with a smile.

"Thanks Char." Katie smiled. "I don't trust them for a second."

Matt grabbed his backpack and he and Jack walked towards the door. "Come on, you are going to say goodbye, aren't you?" Matt teased as he looked back at the girls.

"We're coming." Katie said as she carefully stood up and walked after them with Charlotte.

They got to the car and Jack reached in and grabbed a backpack and handed it to Charlotte. "Here you go sweetheart." Jack said as he pulled her in for a kiss.

"Thanks, buttmunch. I love you." She said sweetly as she grabbed the bag.

Katie looked on, and realized that Charlotte was coming her way with a backpack. "What's that for?" Katie asked.

"It's my overnight bag. I figured that I might need it since I'm staying here with you until they get back." Charlotte said.

"You hired me a babysitter?" Katie asked incredulously.

"Hired? No… she's not getting paid. She was more 'volunteered' for the job." Matt laughed as he comes closer to Katie for a goodbye kiss.

"I don't feel like kissing you." She mumbled. "OW! ANI PIPER SLOAN! If you kick mommy one more time, I'm going to make sure that the doctor gives you an extra spanking when you come out! Do you hear me?" Katie exclaimed down at her belly.

"You be nice to those babies." Matthew teased her. "Bye Ani, Bye Michael." He says, leaning down, kissing Katie's belly twice. He stands back up and looks into Katie's eyes. "Your turn." He says with a smile. She reaches up and puts her arms around his neck and gives him a kiss on the lips.

"Be VERY careful! Please come back in one piece!" Katie said kissing him again and again, leaning her head on his chest.

"I promise. I'll see you soon." Matt says as he turns his head to watch Charlotte and Jackson hugging goodbye. "Jackson will make sure I make it back here alive." He says hugging her tighter. They finally break their embrace and with one final kiss, she waved goodbye as the boys got into the car and waved as they drove slowly down the road and out of sight.

---------------------------------------------

The boys drove in silence for several minutes, when Jackson suddenly turned down a residential road.

"Where are we going?" Matt asked, watching the houses as they passed by them.

"My friend Jim's house." Jack says simply.

"Why are we going to Jim's house? Is he going with us?" Matt asked.

"No, but he's holding onto some things for me." Jack said with a sly grin.

"What?"

"Can't go mountain climbing without gear!" Jack said with a sly grin.

"Damn straight." Matt said, leaning back in his seat, laughing to himself.

---------------------------------------------

May 9, 2032- 6pm-

"Hey, are you ready for me to make dinner for us?" Katie asked Charlotte as she attempted to get up from the couch.

"No, you stay there. Dinner is already done." Charlotte said, putting her arm on Katie to keep her on the couch.

"What do you mean?" Katie asks. Suddenly the doorbell rings. "How did you do that?" She asked as she attempted to get up again.

"No, You stay there! Geez, you're worse than a five year old." Charlotte laughed as she got up to answer the door. Charlotte answered the door and let the guests inside.

"Mom, what are you doing here?" Katie asked as Meredith entered the house with several bags of take-out. Cristina was right behind her with a bag of groceries.

"I'm here with sustenance, are you complaining? When did the boys leave?" Meredith asked as she set the bags of take-out on the coffee table and pointed to the kitchen.

"They left about four hours ago, they wanted to get the tent up before dark. What'd you bring me?" She asks as she tries to lean forward.

"Sit back!" Meredith said, pushing her daughter's shoulder back onto the couch.

"Why is everyone doing that to me? I'm fine!" She whines as she crosses her arms.

"Stop being such a baby." Meredith laughed as Cristina walked back into the living room.

"I don't know about you guys, but if I'm giving up a surgery to babysit the pregnant whiner, we better get some liquor." She said seriously as she rummaged through the take-out bags. She looked over at Katie as she pouted at Cristina reaching her hand up to her. Cristina handed her the container of Chinese food that they had gotten her and smiles. "I'm kidding, geez." She laughs. "We'll wait until the pregnant whiner goes to bed, then we'll drink some liquor, otherwise its rude." Cristina said seriously as she grabbed her own container and sat on the floor.

---------------------------------------------

"So, what time are we going out tomorrow?" Matt asked as he helped Jackson finish setting up the tent.

"You're really eager to get out there and climbing, aren't you?" Jack laughed. "I'm not so sure we should do it. Its kind of early in the season. Mt. Rainer is covered in ice and snow. I know we brought the gear, but I really don't think its such a good idea." Jack said sincerely as he grabbed some supplies from his bag to prepare to light the campfire.

"Come on Jacks! You promised! I've never done anything so fun. I'm twenty six years old, and about to become a father to two kids, get married and settled down. I want to do something fun, something exciting. I want to do something that I've never done before!"

"Have you ever died?" Jack jokes.

"No. What kind of question is that?"

"Well, if we're not careful, we could end up doing that, and what good will you be to your two babies and your wife to be? Besides, Charlotte is going to kill me when she finds the climbing gear in the car, and if you get hurt, Katie will never let me hear the end of it."

"Could you at least think about it? Maybe we can check the weather in the morning, we don't have to do much, I just want to feel the excitement of doing something that I've never done before!" Matt says excitedly.

"I'll think about it." Jack says. "But if anyone asks, it was your idea." He laughs. "Now let's get this campfire started, its cold out here!" Jack says as he prepares to start the campfire.

---------------------------------------------

9pm-

"So when George walked into the bathroom, there I am, sitting in the bathtub with a giant sandwich in my hands ready to eat it." Meredith laughs. "And he doesn't miss a beat, he says 'Meredith, I don't think that's what they meant when they say 'submarine sandwich'' And he turned around and walked out!" Meredith laughs hysterically at her story as Cristina, Katie and Charlotte wipe tears from their eyes.

"I was pregnant! What did he want from me?" Meredith laughs harder, thinking of the memory.

When they finally recover from the anecdote, they are wiping their tears and still giggling a little. "Hey mom, tell us another story from when you guys were interns!" Katie said as she leaned her head onto her mother's shoulder, her cheeks blushing from all the laughing. "Ow." Katie mumbles.

"Are they giving you problems, sweetheart?" Meredith asked as she rubbed her daughter's tummy, feeling the babies moving around.

"Just Ani. Michael doesn't move around too much, now and then I can feel him shifting, but for the most part, he doesn't kick." Katie responded, showing her mother where Michael is.

"When was the last time you went in to have them checked?" Meredith asked, sounding a little more concerned then she wanted.

"Last week, the doctor said that their heartbeats are strong, why, should I be worried?" Katie asked concerned.

"No, don't be worried… just be… cautious…" Meredith says.

"Way to not flip her out, Meredith!" Cristina says, smacking Meredith on the arm. "Just tell her a story about our internship, stop making her panic."

"Ok, ok…. A story from our internship, let me think…."

---------------------------------------------

"Well, there's the story of when I went into labor with you, but you don't want to hear that." Meredith said with a laugh. "Though it is a pretty funny story."

"Oh! Come on! Tell us!" Katie said, "I think its very fitting, since I can explode at any moment here. Ow!" Katie said, rubbing her side again.

Meredith laughed. "Poor baby…."

"Thanks." Katie said with a half grin.

"No, I mean poor baby, being stuck inside of you!" Everyone laughed, including Katie. "Ok, ok. The Katie labor story."

_Meredith is sitting on the couch watching television, her due date is near, but she thinks nothing of it._

::ring ring::

"Hello?"

"Mer?"

"George?"

"Mer?"

"What do you need, George?"

"I forgot."

"Ok." Meredith laughed. "I'll talk to you later."

"Ok." George said, hanging up.

Meredith sits back on the couch and watches about two more minutes when the phone rings again.

::ring ring::

"Hello?"

"Mer?"

"George?"

"I remembered what I wanted." George replies.

"What did you want?"

::pause::

"Damnit! I forgot!" George says and slams the phone down.

"Well, goodbye." Meredith says, hanging up the phone. She stands up to put the phone on the charger and realizes that it is wet where she is sitting. "Crap." She says, knowing that her water has broken.

She grabs the phone and dials George's cell phone.

"Hello?"

"Mer?"

"George?"

"Mer? Crap! I forgot again!" George says and hangs up the phone.

"GEORGE!" Meredith yells as she dials his phone number again. "Damn it! Voice mail! George, this is Meredith, call me now! My water broke and I need someone to take me to the hospital, the contractions haven't started, but I need someone to get here now!" Meredith says into the phone, and hangs up. Several minutes later, the phone rings.

"George?"

"No, Izzie."

"Izzie! Where the hell is George?"

"He's trying to find his phone. He said that someone called him when he was in the bathroom and he dropped it in the toilet as he was flushing. Why, what do you need?"

"I NEED YOU TO GET ME TO THE HOSPITAL NOW!" Meredith screamed into the phone as her contractions started.

"Geez, you don't have to yell!" Izzie said. "I'll be there soon, why do you have to get to the hospital so quickly?"

"So that I don't have this baby on the living room floor!" Meredith yelled into the phone.

"Oookay…. I'll be right there." Izzie says as she hangs up the phone.

"So Izzie picked you up and brought you to the hospital?" Katie asked.

"Not exactly." Cristina interrupted. "George failed to mention to Izzie that he had also dropped his keys in the toilet and flushed them as well. They pulled me out of a CABG to go get little miss preggers here. I'm telling you, I was NOT a happy camper." Cristina laughed.

"I bet!" Katie laughed.

"But yeah, I got her to the hospital alright. Have you ever seen a pregnant woman in labor on the back of a motorcycle?"

"You didn't!" Katie exclaimed.

"You're right, I didn't. I had to take the Bailey's car. She drives this tiny little Neon. Meredith hardly even fit in it." Cristina said dryly.

"Shut up!"

"Seriously Mer, I practically had your head hanging out the window, the car was so small! Just admit it!"

"Ok, the car 'was' a little small."

"But you got to the hospital alright."

"But we got to the hospital alright, and you were born. A bouncing ball of cuddles with black hair and blue eyes, and a smile that could charm the pacifier out of any baby around you." Meredith finished. "Are we done freaking out my daughter?" Meredith asks.

"I'm done, are you done freaking her out with your questions?"

"No more freaking anyone out, please!" Katie laughs. "I should probably get to bed, you guys can stay as late as you want." Katie said as she attempted to get up.

"Want me to get a crane?" Cristina asks, Meredith throws her a dirty look. "Sorry, Do you need some help?" She asks as she reaches for Katie's hand.

---------------------------------------------

May 9, 2032- 6am

The next morning, Jackson is up at the break of dawn packing up the gear for their hike to start. Matthew steps out of the tent and stretches. "So, are we going to do some climbing today?" He asks as he starts to carefully take the tent down.

"Well, it looks like the weather is going to be alright, we can do some climbing if you want. Just make sure you dress really warm! There is a lot of ice out there." Jackson says as he finishes packing up the gear.

------------------------

8am-

"Ok, here's our little 'mountain climbing' lesson for the day." Jacks says as he hands over a harness to Matthew. "Put this on like this." Jack says as he helps Matthew secure his harness to his body. "Now this is an older harness, so there's a little bit of wear here on the buckle, so use this buckle here, it was reinforced." Jack explained as he gave him instructions on how to put the harness on properly and then put his own on.

They went on for a half hour learning how to ascend and descend properly, without injuring themselves, until Matthew felt confident enough to do it for himself.

They began climbing a particularly steep grade, carefully rappelling up the side of the mountain. Jack first, then Matthew. At one point, Matthew began to ascend faster then Jack had expected, coming up alongside him roughly.

"Jesus Christ Matt! Slow down!" Jack said, suddenly, his rope gave a little, and he dropped about three feet. "Shit, my rope is slipping!" Jack said as he tried to adjust it. "Matt! GRAB IT MATT!" Jack screamed as his rope began to slip farther and faster.

Matt grabs one of the ropes beside him, but Jackson keeps slipping, screaming a blood curdling scream as he hurtles towards the sharp rocks below.

Suddenly, Matthew reaches and grabs the other rope, pulling all of his weight onto it as suddenly, the rope goes taut and Jackson's screaming stops. Matthew's hands are burning from holding the rope as he stares straight ahead at the cliff they had been climbing. He swallows hard as he dares to look below him.

---------------------------------------------

Suddenly, Matthew reaches and grabs the other rope, pulling all of his weight onto it as suddenly, the rope goes taut. Matthew's hands are burning from holding the rope as he stares straight ahead at the cliff they had been climbing. He swallows hard as he dares to look below him.

"Come on Pussy! Help me out why don't you!" Jack yelled from below as he sit in his harness, dangling from the side of the cliff. Matt looks down at Jackson, who has a wide grin on his face. "What? Not a fan of freefalling?" Jack asked as he rappelled back up the cliff wall past a shocked Matthew.

"You…. You…." Matthew stuttered.

"What? I was just testing my harness." Jack laughed. "Wanna test yours?" He says, looking down at Matthew, who is staring at the rocks below.

"You… you….SONOFABITCH!" Matthew screamed, looking up at Jackson, his eyes red with cold and fear, his lips trembling.

"Come on, lighten up." Jack said with a laugh as he started to rappel up the side of the mountain. "I'm sorry, come on!" Jack called, seeing that Matthew is still in the same spot.

"Promise me you'll never do that again!" Matt said seriously.

"I promise, now let's go, you want to climb, then climb!" Jack said with a laugh as he watched to make sure Matthew was able to start back up again.

8pm- Katie and Matt's house

"Hey, how are you feeling?" Charlotte asked Katie, who was lying on the couch awkwardly, staring at the ceiling.

"I feel like crap. I think my children are trying to kill me. My lower back is killing me." Katie said as she attempted to sit up.

"Hey, I'll go make you some hot chocolate, it'll make you feel better!" Charlotte said with a smile as she stood up to go into the kitchen.

---------------------------------------------

8pm- Mt. Rainier

"Are you almost done? We should pack up the bag and get up to the campsite." Jack said as he poured out his cup into the snow and stamped out the small campfire that they had used to cook their dinner.

"We're not staying here?" Matt asked.

"No, we need to rappel another hundred feet or so to that ledge up there." Jack pointed. "The wind will be much less there, and there's probably no snow cover." He said as he began to put his harness back on. Matthew put his harness back on also and packed his bag.

---------------------------------------------

8:45pm- Katie and Matt's house

"Hey, thanks for the cocoa, I think it helped a little. They seem to be calming down in there. I felt like there was a soccer game going on inside of me." Katie laughed uncomfortably.

"I'm glad it helped. Do you need anything else?" Charlotte asked, from her spot on the floor, typing away on her laptop.

"Nah, I think I'm alright." Katie said, sitting up a little more. "I think I'm going to go upstairs and get ready for bed, I'm tired." She said as she stood up and waddled towards the stairs.

"Okay, I'll be down here if you need me."

---------------------------------------------

8:45pm- Mt. Rainier

"Ok, now be very careful, this next part is very tricky." Jack said as he demonstrated to Matt how to make it up the slippery part of the cliff in the cold night air. Matthew was about ten feet below him, attempting to climb the same as Jack.

"Do I put my hand here, and then my foot over … SHIT!" Matt exclaimed as he tried to maneuver himself around on the rock, hanging freely. 

"What? Shit what?" Jack said, but by the time he turned around, it was too late. Matthew had slipped out of his harness and was dangling by one leg, upside down. "What the hell did you do!" Jack exclaimed, reaching down to try to reach him.

"HELP JACK! DON'T LET ME FALL!" Matt screamed, panicking as he dangle 70 feet above the snow, rock and ice.

"MATT GRAB MY HAND, STOP PANICKING!" Jack screamed, panicking.

"I CAN'T HOLD ON!" Matt screamed as his leg began to slip out of the remaining part of the harness

---------------------------------------------

8:50 pm- Katie and Matt's house

Katie had just gotten upstairs and Charlotte stayed on her laptop typing when suddenly, Charlotte heard a scream from upstairs. "HELP CHARLOTTE!" Katie screamed in pain from the top of the stairs. Charlotte got up swiftly and as she was getting up, she noticed several drops of clear fluid on the couch.

"Crap!" was all she said as she grabbed her cell phone off the table and ran upstairs as fast as she could.

"Help me Charlotte, Help me!" Katie cried as she began to slowly slip against the wall to the floor in agony.

---------------------------------------------

8:50 pm- Mt. Rainier

"HOLY SHIT JACKSON! I AM GOING TO DIE!" Matt screamed as he tried to scramble to save himself.

"STOP IT MATT! NO ONE IS GOING TO DIE! GRAB HOLD OF THE ROPE! WRAP IT AROUND YOU!" Jack screamed as he tried to secure the rope around him.

"TELL KATIE THAT I LOVE HER! TELL THE BABIES THAT I LOVE THEM! TELL THEM JACK! PROMISE ME YOU'LL TELL THEM!" Matt screamed as his leg began to slip as he tried to grab the rope.

"DON'T TALK LIKE THAT MATT! HERE!" Jack said as he attempted to secure him, but it was too late, Matthew slipped completely out of the harness and hurtled towards the ground below screaming for Katherine.

---------------------------------------------

9:00 pm- Katie and Matt's house

Katie leans against the wall, breathing heavily, sweating profusely.

"Katie, what's going on, you're freaking me out." Charlotte said as she sat down next to her, trying to calm her breathing. "Katie, try to breathe, are the babies coming?"

"I… I…. don't… I don't…. I don't KNOW!! OH MY GOD CALL A FUCKING AMBULANCE NOW!" Katie screamed on top of her lungs as she grabbed hold of Charlotte's hand.

"Can't do that with your nails digging into me!" Charlotte said as she pryed Katie's nails from her hand and dialed for an ambulance.

"Hello, I need an ambulance at 932 Whispering Walk Dr. Yes. A pregnant woman… how many weeks?" Charlotte asked.

"IT DOESN'T FUCKING MATTER! GET A GODDAMNED AMBULANCE HERE NOW!" Katie screamed. "I want my mommy, please call my mommy." She mumbled under her breath, tears springing to her eyes.

"She's going into pre term Labor, we need an ambulance now!" Charlotte looked over at Katie. "Jesus CHRIST! GET SOMEONE HERE NOW! SHE PASSED OUT!" Charlotte screamed into the telephone.


	51. Chapter 51

Chapter 51-

9:00 pm- Mt. Rainier

Jack hang from his perch on the cliff, his jaw agape as he watched his friend fall seventy feet to the rocks below. Just before he heard the crash of his body hit the rocks, he closed his eyes and looked to the sky. He heard the sickening crunch of Matthew's body hitting the snow and rocks.

After several minutes, he slowly rappelled himself down the cliff. Being sure not to look down at his friend, his brother, afraid of what he might see. When he reached the ledge below, he finally turned around. He kept his eyes closed as he pulled a large flashlight from his bag. He turned it on and shone it onto Matthew.

His helmet was shattered, littering the rocks below his body. His body lay lifeless on the ground, his right arm turned at a sickening angle. He lay, his back arched over the backpack that held much of their camping equipment, one of his boots had flown off in the fall. His eyes were closed, blood, running from a wound on his head.

"What did I do…. What did I do…. What did I do…" Jack whispers to himself, his blood going cold.

----------------------------------------

9:34- SGH-

"Charlotte! Where is she!" Meredith exclaims when she sees her coming running through the ambulance bay doors.

"She's coming! She's stable!" Charlotte said, running to Meredith's arms. Meredith hugged her and watched as Katie is brought in on a stretcher.

"Mama… mama… it hurts, mama…" She moans as she sees her mother. Meredith grabs her hand and follows her quickly down the hallway to an exam room.

"Where is she?" Derek says, breathless as he comes around a corner and spots Meredith. Meredith nods her head towards the room and they all follow the stretcher into the room as the doctor starts the exam. Derek walked to her bed. "Baby, what happened?" Derek said softly as he took her hand.

"The babies are being impatient, daddy." Katie said in a small voice. "Its not time yet, daddy." She said as she started to cry. "I miss Matty, go get me Matty!" She sobbed.

"I'll see what I can do, baby. I'm going to go out in the hallway with Charlotte, mommy will stay with you, ok?" Derek said, wiping the sweat soaked hair from her forehead.

"Ok, daddy. Thank you." Katie said softly as she squeezed his hand. Derek reached down and kissed her forehead and turned to Meredith. "She'll be alright." He said, putting his hand on her cheek, kissing her on the lips. He smiles slightly at her and turns to walk out the door to find Charlotte.

----------------------------------------

Jackson takes a step forward towards Matthew. The crunching of the snow under his feet makes a chill run up his spine. "Matt?" Jack whispers as he takes another step, looking for any sign of life. "Matty?" He said, his voice trembling as he kneeled down next to his head. He brought his face down close to him and shine the flashlight on the cut on his head.

"SHIT!" Jack exclaimed, falling back onto the snow as Matt's eyes suddenly open wide, staring straight into his eyes. "MATT!" Jack exclaimed. "DON'T MOVE, MATT!" Jack said as he haste fully pulled his backpack from his back and threw it to the ground. "Don't move."

"I…I…" Matt tried to say something, his eyes still looking straight up, not at Jackson, but into the darkness above him.

"Don't even try to move! Don't try to talk!" Jack said as he rummaged through his backpack for the first aid kit and tracking device. He pulled the emergency tracking device from his pack and pressed the button, typing in an emergency message and approximate location for rescue. He set it beside Matthew as he opened the first aid kit and pulled out supplies, beginning to dress his wound on his head.

"I….I…mm" Matt said, staring up into Jacks face. "Kkkaakaatie…I…mm sorrry" Matt whispered as a tear ran down his face.

"Matt! Don't try to talk!" Jack said as he worked furiously on helping to dress the wound on Matthew's head, finally stopping the bleeding. "Listen Matt, I'm going to take the sleeping bag out and set it down, we're going to try to get the pack off your back and lay you flat. Can you understand me? Just blink twice, if you understand me, don't move!" Jack said. Matthew blinked twice.

Jack quickly rolled out the sleeping bag beside Matthew and walked to his other side. He quickly disconnected all of the straps of the pack and stood over Matthew to try to figure out the best course of action. He carefully moved Matt's broken arm slightly, to ensure that he wouldn't roll on it, much to Matthew's pain as he cried out in agony as his arm was moved. He then rolled him slightly and pulled the pack carefully from under his back, lying him flat. Matthew let out another ungodly scream of pain as Jackson attempted to move him over to the sleeping bag.

"Matty. Can you still hear me?" Jack says as he looks down at Matt, who's eyes are closed tightly in pain, an awful grimace on his face. Matthew nodded his head.

Jack unzipped Matt's backpack and pulled out several warm blankets and tucked them around Matt to keep him warm. He quickly found the tent and pitched it around the two of them to keep the wind off of them. He bundled himself up and tried his best to make Matthew comfortable.

"Jack." Matt slurs, finally getting his bearings after the painful move. "Jacks." He whispers again. "I need your dad, Jacks." Matt mumbled, looking up at him.

"What do you mean?" Jack said, moving closer to him.

Matt smacked his lips and his eyes suddenly became very worried. "Jack, I can't feel my arms or legs anymore." He said, as tears began to flow down his face.

----------------------------------------

10:00pm- SGH-

Derek is pacing the hallway as he had been since the last time he had seen his daughter and his wife. The doctor had been in her room for an awful long time and he was starting to panic.

Suddenly, his face lit up when he saw Meredith walking out of the room, closing the door behind her. She walked over to him and put her head on his chest, wrapping her arms around his body.

"What? What is it? Is she going to be alright?" Derek asked, getting only a tighter hug in response.

"It's Michael. He's not moving." Meredith said, her voice choked up.

"But he'll be alright, right? Meri?" Derek responded. "He has a heartbeat, right? Meredith, answer me." Derek said, sternly as he pulled her away from him. She refused to look him in the eyes.

"He has a heartbeat. But he's not moving. It's not good Derek, its not good at all." Meredith said sadly. "We need to get her a specialist, I called Rebecca, she and Mark are going to be here tomorrow morning. She should be alright. His heartbeat is strong right now, but they're not ready to come out. I'm scared Derek." Meredith said concerned as she hugged him close again.

"I know sweetheart. I know." Derek said softly. "And Matt is out having fun in the goddamned mountains, and my baby is here suffering." Derek said angrily as he gave Meredith another squeeze, kissing her head as he hug her.

----------------------------------------

11:00 pm- Mt. Rainier-

It has been two hours since Matthew had fallen. He is wrapped tightly in several blankets to keep the cold, chilling air from taking over his body as Jack sits, shivering nearby without a blanket, waiting for the tracking device to signal that their coordinates had been located. Jack stares off into space in his own thoughts as he keeps watch over his fallen friend.

"Jack?" Matt whispers softly from his blanket cocoon. "Jack?" He says a little louder, trying to get his attention.

"What is it Matty, what do you need?" Jack said, moving close to him. "Are you cold? Do you need another blanket? Are you thirsty? What can I get you?" Jack asked, looking down into Matt's darkened eyes. The light from the flashlight playing eerily over the tent.

"You're cold, Jack. Use a blanket." He whispered.

"No, you need the blankets Matt, not me. Keep yourself warm." Jack said as he rocked himself back and forth trying to keep warm.

"No, Jack. Please? Please do it for me? I don't want you to be cold, Jacks. Please?" Matt whimpered as tears began to fall down his cheeks.

"I can't. I don't deserve it, Matty. I'll be alright." He said as his teeth chattered and he continued to rock back and forth.

"Jack, you have to. Will you at least come over here and share the blanket with me? Lie next to me, please? We can keep each other warm. Please?" Matthew whimpered.

Jack sat and watched his friend pleading for comfort. He lay there broken, and all he can think of is whether or not Jack freezes to death. Jack slowly shifted down to Matt's side and lay next to him. He lays his head on his friend's chest and pushes his body against his as he pulls the blanket around him. "You're cuddly." Matt said, trying to joke. He laughed a little and coughed. "Ow, funny hurts." Matt said softly as he could feel pressure of Jack's body against his.

"If funny hurts, don't do funny." Jack replied, quietly praying to himself that they get out of this situation alive. 

They lay there for several minutes, trying to keep one another warm against the frigid spring air. "Jacks, can you tell me a story about Katie?" Matt whispered.

"A story about Katie?" Jack asked.

"Yeah, I miss her. I want to hear her name, I want to think happy thoughts of her." Matt whispered back.

"Ok, I'll tell you a story that I was told from my dad. You'll appreciate it. You may even learn a lesson or two." Jack laughed.

_"Daddy! DADDY! I HAVE TO PEE DADDY!" five year old Katie screamed as she and Derek walked through the mall looking for a birthday present for Meredith._

"Ok, ok. I'll take you to the bathroom, you don't have to yell." Derek said as he held her hand while walking beside her. The two of them walked down the hallway at the mall and eventually came upon a set of public restrooms. Derek started walking towards the men's room when he suddenly felt a sharp tug on his arm.

"No Daddy! I'm a little girl! I go in the bathroom with the picture of the girl with the dress on it!" Katie says, indicating the ladies room bathroom sign.

"But daddy is a boy, he can't go into the little girl's room." Derek responds, looking down at her. She looks up at him with pleading eyes. He looks at the two doors and back down at Katie, who is by now dancing around singing a song about how she has to go to the bathroom. He looks up at the bathroom doors and takes her hand. "We'll use the boy's room, daddy won't tell anyone." He says as he brings her inside. 

He stops when he enters the bathroom and tries to figure out the logistics of the situation. He's never done this before, he has no idea what to do. "Ok, short stuff, what do I do from here?" Derek asks looking down at her. "Hey! Don't touch that!" Derek says as Katie wanders over to one of the urinals.

"Daddy, there's a water bowl in here!" She says gleefully as she turns and smiles at him, her blue eyes sparkling.

"That's not a water bowl!" Derek says as he grabs her before she touches it. She giggles as he swings her around to the stall. "Here, you go potty in there. You can get up on the seat and all that by yourself, right?" Derek says, looking into the stall to make sure that the seat is clean. He ushers her inside. "Daddy will be right out here, now I'm going to close the door, but don't lock it, ok?" Derek says as he closes the door. As soon as the door is closed, Katie lets out a giggle and slides the lock into place. "Katherine!" Derek exclaims.

"No, daddy, I need the door locked, I don't want any boys getting in." She giggled as she stood in the stall and picked the seat of the toilet up and banged it back down.

"What are you doing now?" Derek asked, exasperated.

"Getting ready to pee, daddy." clunk

"Stop playing with the seat, and just go potty, Katie."

"Ok." She said as he heard her shuffling around in the stall. After a few minutes, he hears her little voice from the other side of the door. "Daddy?"

"Yes sweetheart." Derek said, his patience wearing thin.

"I don't want you to hear me pee, will you sing me a song?"

"Sing you a song?" Derek asked softly as he set his head against the stall door.

"Yes. Sing me a song daddy, please?" Katie said in a small voice.

"Fine. Row row row your boat, gently down the…"

"No, no daddy! Not that one!" Katie called out.

"Which one do you want me to sing?" Derek asked.

"The one with the lamb and Mary!" Katie exclaimed.

"Ok… ok…'Mary had a little lamb.. little…." Derek stops as the door opens and a man walks in, looking at Derek strangely.

"Daddy! You stopped!" Katie squealed from the stall.

"Sorry." Derek said, giving the man an apologetic look. "Mary had a little lamb, little…. What are you looking at?" Derek says to the man as he finishes going to the bathroom in the urinal and laughs at Derek as he's walking out.

"DADDY!!" Katie screeched.

"Just go to the bathroom!" Derek called.

"Daddy…" Katie whimpered from the stall.

"Fine. Mary had a little lamb, little lamb, little lamb…" Derek finished the song, hearing Katie sing along with it. He laughed to himself as he though of how ridiculous it must look to someone walking in.

"Ok Daddy! All done!" Katie exclaimed.

"Alright, unlock the door and we'll wash our hands!" Derek said, happy that the experience was over.

"Um…um…" Katie responded from inside the stall.

"What? Unlock the door Katie." Derek said.

"I forgot how to." Katie said simply as she wiggled the lock.

"Katie!" Derek exclaimed as he leaned over and tried to describe the lock to her and how exactly to do it.

"BOO!" Katie screamed from behind him, Derek jumped and smacked his head on the stall door.

"KATIE!" Derek yelled as he jumped. "How did you get out of there?"

"I crawled, silly! Let's wash hands!" Katie said as she turned towards the sink. She walked over to the sink and gently leaned both of her hands up in the air over the sink. "I can't reach." Katie said as she tried to reach the faucet.

"Here, I'll help a little." Derek said as he lifted her up and put the water on warm. She reached over for the soap and pumped fifteen times.

"I think that's enough soap." Derek said as he watched the little pile amount in her little hand.

"No, more!" Katie said as she pumped it two more times. She then took the soap and rubbed it on her hands, and up her arms.

"Katie! What are you doing?" Derek asked.

"Scrubbing in!" Katie says with a laugh. "That's what Georgie calls it!" She giggles.

"Come on, wash your arms off!" Derek says as he holds her under one arm and runs her arms under the water in the sink, getting all of the soap off of them. "Ok, paper towels." Derek said as he walked over to the paper towel container. "Crap!"

"Why crap daddy?"

"Because you're soaking wet, and there are no paper towels!" Derek said as he held up his dripping daughter.

"What can you do?" Katie says shrugging.

"Why did I teach you that?" Derek said as he lifted her up right in his arms and carried her out into the mall.

He gently set her down in the hallway and began to walk away from the bathrooms holding her hand. "DADDY!!" Katie said, suddenly tugging on his arm.

"What sweetheart?" Derek said softly, looking down at her.

"I was too busy singing our song, I forgot to pee!" Katie said, starting to dance around. "I gotta go pee! I GOTTA GO PEE DADDY!" She squealed as Derek stood there, stunned.

"That has got to be one of the funniest…. Ow… things I have ever heard…." Matt said as Jack finished his story.

"My dad never took her shopping alone again, I don't think." Jack laughed, suddenly a small beeping alarm went off.

"What….What's that?" Matt asked as Jack got up and walked towards their pack.

"It's the tracking device! They have located us. Now we just have to wait for them to get to us." Jack said softly, looking down at Matt. "I am so sorry that I did this to you, Matt." Jack whispered.

"You didn't do anything, Jack. I was the one that made you take me. I'm getting sleepy." Matt said as his voice began to drift off.

"No, Matt. Don't go to sleep!" Jack said, watching as Matt's eyes droop.

"I don't know how long I can stay awake." Matt said, his voice suddenly sounding more hollow and empty.

"Just try. Please? Do it for Katie?" Jack replied.

"Katie. I have always loved her, you know." Matt said as he closed his eyes and fell asleep.

----------------------------------------

3am- SGH-

"Hey, what are you still doing up?" Derek whispered as he walked into Katie's room. Charlotte is fast asleep curled up on the chair next to the bed.

"I couldn't sleep." Katie whispered back. "I just… have this feeling… you know? That something horrible is going to happen. Have you ever had that feeling?" Katie asked, looking up into her father's eyes, her own eyes filling with tears.

Derek was afraid to answer her, afraid of what the impacts of this 'feeling' could be. Her mother had a 'feeling' once, and that had turned out alright, hadn't it? He reached out for Katie's hand, holding it firmly in his own. "It'll pass sweetheart." Derek said softly, trying to convince himself as much as he was trying to convince her.

"Do you promise?" She whispered back.

"I promise. Everything will be fine. Rebecca will be here as soon as she can. Michael will be fine. I just can't believe you wouldn't name him Melvin." Derek teased.

"Oh Dad, you know that's an awful name." Katie giggled softly as she smiled up at him.

"Charlotte is staying here with you? She didn't have to do that." Derek said.

"She said that she promised Matt that she'd be with me the whole time he's gone. She refuses to leave." Katie laughed.

"Well, it gives you someone to talk to then." Suddenly Derek's pager goes off. He looks down at it. "Crap, 911 coming in on the helicopter, I got to go get this. You behave and get some rest, young lady." Derek says as he kisses Katie on her forehead. "I'll be in to check on you soon."

"Bye Daddy! Go save a life!" She laughed.

"It's my job!" He smiled as he jogged out the door.

Katie lay her head back and stared at the ceiling. "I miss you Matty." She whispered as she closed her eyes and slowly drifted off to sleep.

Derek rushes up the stairs to the emergency room near the helipad as the interns rush out to the helipad to retrieve the patient. Just as Derek swings open the door, Jackson comes running into the buzzing emergency room from the helipad.

"JACKSON?" Derek says, panicked at the sight of his son coming from the roof. He is wearing a heavy jacket and is covered with blood. His hair is in disarray and his face and hands are covered with dirt and caked with blood. His cheeks are bright red from the frigid air atop the mountain. He squints as the bright lights of the emergency room hit his eyes, he sees his father come flying in through the staircase door. "What the hell happened?" Derek said, running to him, touching his arm and his face.

Jack looks at him straight in the eyes, his eyes glassed over in fear, panic, and exhaustion. "It's Matt." It was all he could say.

"What about Matt, Jacks? Where is he? JACKS?"

"He… he…" Suddenly the gurney carrying Matthew came flying into the emergency room, nurses and emergency medical personal spouting his condition. Jackson stood, staring at his friend, just as he had the entire trip on the helicopter. Jack turned his head quickly to his father, watching the look of horror pass over his face. "I think he's dying." Jack said to his father as he suddenly felt sick. He ran for the closest exam room, collapsed to his knees by the garbage can and emptied the contents of his stomach.

----------------------------------------

Derek rushed to Matthew's side and could immediately see that he was in danger of dying. "What's going on with him?" Derek asked as he followed them down the hallway.

"He has a head injury, that was redressed en route, a broken arm, extensive spinal and nerve damage, abrasions, contusions, he's a mess Dr. Shepherd, it doesn't look good." The EMT informed him.

"I want all possible tests done on him. You do EVERYTHING you can do to keep him alive, do you hear me? Page Meredith 911, tell her to get down here NOW! I want every available intern on this case running those tests!" Derek barked. "Dr. Balli!" Derek called Alli, who came running from Matt's bedside to Derek. "Alli, I need you to do me a favor, I need you to go to the Maternity floor. My daughter is in room 532. I do not want anyone to go into that room unless it is me, her mother, or Charlotte Burke. No one else, do you understand me?"

"Yes, sir." Alli replies.

"She cannot know about this right now. I don't want to put any undue stress on her or the babies. Thank you."

"No problem, sir." Alli said as she rushes off to the elevator.

Derek turns towards the empty exam room that Jack ran into. He sees his son curled on the floor next to the garbage can, spitting and coughing violently. Derek crouches down next to Jack.

"Jack. What happened?" Derek asked, calmly placing his hand on Jack's back.

Jack looked up at Derek, his eyes are bloodshot, his eyelids red from a mix of tears, and frostbite. "We…we…" Jack started, stopping himself before he revealed to his father the activity that he had been told by several people to not partake in because of Matt's inexperience. "We were … climbing." Jack said weakly, staring into the garbage can, no longer able to look his father in the eyes. He stood up. Derek stood up next to him, trying to get him to look him in the eyes.

"You were climbing?" Derek asked, calmly.

Derek's calmness made Jack feel uneasy. He had never heard his father talk to him in such a soothing tone. "We were climbing and Matt's harness failed. He fell, about seventy feet, onto his pack." Jack said, staring hard at the floor, wishing that it would swallow him up, feeling as if any moment, Derek would snap.

"His harness failed?" Derek said, still calm. Derek calmly reached his hand out to his son and put his hand gently on his cheek. "Jack? You're not hurt, are you?" Derek asked softly as Jack stubbornly averted his gaze.

Jack's eyes lifted to look into his father's intense stare. "No, I'm alright. I didn't fall or anything." Jack whispered. Before he could say another word, Derek reared his hand back and slapped Jack so hard across his face that he flew clear across the exam room, smashing into the chair in the room. He fell hard against the chair, tipping it over, smashing his head against the wall as he landed.

Derek stalked over to his son and pulled him up by the front of his jacket. He pushed him hard against the wall, lifting him about a foot off the ground, he slammed his back hard against the wall. "You went CLIMBING!" Derek screamed.

"Yes… yes… it was Matt's idea!" Jack whimpered, fear in his eyes at his father's intense stare.

"It was MATT'S IDEA? YOU ARE GOING TO BLAME IT ON THE BOY THAT IS IN THAT EMERGENCY ROOM DYING?" Derek screamed as he slammed Jack's body repeatedly against the wall.

"Do you know where your sister is right now? DO YOU KNOW? DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA? DO YOU EVEN FUCKING CARE?" Derek screamed

"No." Jack whimpered.

"WHAT?"

"No I don't know where she is! NO I DON'T KNOW WHERE SHE IS!" Jack screamed, hoping that someone would hear the desperation in his voice and save him from his father's rage..

"She is in this hospital right now. She is about to give BIRTH, JACKSON! AND YOU KILLED THOSE BABIES' FATHER! BECAUSE YOU ARE A SELFISH, WORTHLESS HUMAN BEING!" Derek screamed, slamming Jack against the wall harder. "He has a FAMILY! A FAMILY JACKSON!" Derek screamed.

"I know! I know! It wasn't my idea, it wasn't my…"

"STOP SAYING THAT! DO YOU WANT ME TO KILL YOU?" Derek raged, he let go of Jack, letting him fall to the floor, curling in a ball whimpering from his father's attack. "GET UP YOU GODDAMNED PUSSY! GET UP AND ACT ALL TOUGH! WHAT IS YOUR PROBLEM!" Derek screamed, kicking Jack repeatedly as he tried to shield his father's blows with his hands.

"Stop it! STOP IT! STOP IT!" Jack finally screamed, standing up. "WHO THE HELL DO YOU THINK YOU ARE!" Jack said, pushing Derek hard.

"Don't you touch me." Derek growled, coming at Jack, who began to run from him towards the door. Just as he got to the door, the door swung open and Meredith came flying in, the door slammed jack in the side as he went flying and slammed into the wall.

"Oh my God! Jack!" Meredith said, seeing her son fall against the wall, his lip bleeding, his face flushed from the cold and exhaustion, his face dirty from tears and his long night on the mountain. Meredith ran to his side. "Derek! What the hell are you doing to him?" Meredith yelled.

"Don't you touch him! DON'T TOUCH HIM MEREDITH!" Derek screamed at his wife as he came up behind her. He slammed the exam room door. "This asshole has something that he wants to say to me!" Derek spat as he walked over to Jack and pulled him up by his jacket, lightly pushing Meredith away from him.

"Derek! Let me check him! What did you do to him!" Meredith said, seeing that his eyes were glazed over and tired. "Why is he covered with blood?" Meredith said, standing behind Derek, horrified by her son's appearance.

"Oh, that's not his blood Meredith. That is the blood spilled from an innocent father to be. Another victim of your son's tour of destruction to ruin everyone's life in his path!"

"What are you talking about? Where's Matthew?" Meredith asked.

"Ask your son. Ask your beloved, sweet, innocent little boy where Matthew is!" Derek spat as he let go of Jack, who immediately stumbled over behind his mother, staring angrily at his father.

"He is hurt, mom. He is really hurt, and he needs help. They're doing tests on him now." Jack said, breathing heavily, leaning on his mother's back, and continuing to throw darts at Derek with his eyes.

"What happened, baby?" Meredith asked, turning around to look at Jack's face. She sees the dark hand mark across his face and turns to Derek. "Did you do this to him?" Meredith asks as Jack rubs his head.

"Damn straight I did it to him, and I'm not through with him either."

"We were climbing, and Matt fell. He's in really bad condition. I kept him warm, I called for help. He's unconscious. He asked for that asshole!" Matt said, pointing at Derek.

"Jack. Don't talk like that."

"NO! I am going to get to say my piece!" Jack said, moving in front of his mother, blocking her from his father. "I'm sorry mom, but I have to do this." He said calmly as he stepped forward to Derek, his eyes blazing as angry as Derek's at this moment, his breathing heavy and angry as he wipes the blood from his lip and runs his hands through his hair. "Dad. No, Derek. I'll call you Derek, because you are no longer my father as of this moment. Derek. I hate you. I hate you so much right now that I don't even know how I have the strength to look at you without vomiting. I am leaving, and I don't give a crap if I ever see you again. You have treated me like a child my entire life, and I am SICK of it. I am SICK of being treated as second best, as the 'black sheep' to your 'uber-perfect' family. I love Katie, I love Matthew, and I love my mother. But right now, I don't care if you live or die. Here are the fucking keys to your jeep!" Jack says angrily as he pulls the keys out of his pocket and throws them at his father's head, who moves his head to the side, the keys nearly hitting him in the face. "Where are the keys to my fucking car?"

"I am not giving you your keys! You're not going anywhere!" Derek says angrily.

"Derek." Meredith warns.

"What Meredith? Didn't you hear what mister HOT SHOT said to me? He hates me. Now he wants his fucking car keys from me? I don't think so."

"Give him his keys, Derek, its his car. Stop fighting with him and go help Matthew. He needs you. Just give Jackson his car keys so that he can go home and get cleaned up. We need to check on Matthew." Meredith said as he softly to her husband.

Derek stared Jackson down. The anger in their eyes blazing and fighting just as hard as they had physically. "HERE ARE YOUR FUCKING KEYS! GET OUT OF MY LIFE!" Derek said, reaching into his pocket, pulling the keys out, he whipped them at Jack, hitting him right in the face.

"JESUS CHRIST DEREK!" Meredith said, assessing her son's now bloody nose.

"I'm fine." Jack said, standing upright as he walked towards the door. "I love you mom. I'm sorry." He says as he reaches over and kisses Meredith on the cheek. "I'm going now." He said as he reached down with his free hand and grabbed his keys. "Tell my niece and nephew that I love them. Tell Katie and Matt that I'm sorry." He said as he opened the door and walked through it. He started to close the door and opened it up one last time, giving his father an icy glare.

"You were right when you said that Matthew has a family. He has mine too." Jack said as he slammed the exam room door closed behind him.

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Meredith glared at Derek for several seconds before turning her back and stomping out the door. "Meredith!" Derek called after her as he followed her quickly out the door and down the hallway.

Charlotte shifts in her chair as she tries to make herself comfortable. She looks over at Katie. She is sleeping with a peaceful smile on her face. She looks around the room and sees a nervous intern hovering at the door. Not looking in, but hovering nonetheless. Charlotte gets up and opens the door a crack. "What's going on out here?" She whispered.

"Uh… nothing." Alli responded.

"No, seriously." Charlotte said, as she walks outside the door and closes it lightly behind herself. "What's going on?"

"You can't tell Katie. It's about Matt." Alli said softly.

"Matt? Matt is with Jacks, what happened?" Charlotte asked nervously.

"Matt and Jacks were mountain climbing and…"

"Matt and Jacks WERE … Matt and Jacks were what?" She asked, lowering her voice, putting her face in Alli's face.

"They were mountain climbing and Matt fell. He fell and is in critical condition, they don't know if he's going to make it." Alli whispered.

"Where are they?" Charlotte asked as she started to jog down the hallway.

"Emergency floor!" Alli called after her.

Charlotte ran down the hallway and jumped into the elevator, she took the elevator upstairs to the Helipad emergency room and as the doors began to open, it revealed a bleeding, haggard, tired, and very angry Jackson. He looked up and suddenly his mouth dropped in abject horror as he saw the stone cold, very pissed off face of Charlotte Burke, burning a hole through his head with her gaze.

She reached out and grabbed him by his coat, yanked him into the elevator, slamming him against the opposite wall. She kicked her foot up and hit the door close button, and stared into his eyes while holding on with a death grip as she kicked the elevator stop button after the doors closed completely.

"You are a fucking dead man." She snarled as she slammed him against the wall again

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"Char…"

"No, you listen, I speak, do you understand me?"

"Charlotte." 

"You don't understand? That's not a surprise. If you understood, and you knew how to 'listen', Matthew would be fine and you wouldn't be on the verge of being murdered by your ex-girlfriend.

Jack swallowed hard as her eyes continued to burn into his skull. "Ex…." He swallowed hard.

"That's right 'genius' 'EX' girlfriend, as in. 'I have been lied to and will not tolerate it' ex-girlfriend. It was a promise Jack. A 'promise'. You broke that promise, so I break your heart. That's the deal. That is how it goes. Swallow your pride and go on with your life because Charlotte Burke will not be a part of it."

"But it was…"

"What? It was Matt's idea? Give me a goddamned break. Who had the equipment? Not Matt. YOU had the equipment, YOU let it happen. It's your fault! No wonder your father thinks you're such a goddamned screw up! Look what you did! Do you understand the WEIGHT of this? The circumstances? That man could be paralyzed Jackson! He may never hold his children in his arms, and you're going to tell me that it was his goddamned fault? How selfish can you be? REALLY!" She yells as she stomps on his foot.

Suddenly, Jack pushed her off of himself. He pushed her across the elevator, slamming her body against the other side, pressing his body against hers, he put his forehead against hers. "Listen… to me…." He said, seething through clenched teeth as he held her arms tightly in his grasp. His eyes burned an eerie shade of grey. "I didn't ask for this to happen. I know I broke a promise, I know that I did something stupid and Matthew got hurt. But Matthew is a GODDAMNED adult! He can think for himself, he can make his own goddamned decisions!" Charlotte squirmed under his grasp, she has never seen this side of him, this rage that consumed him was nothing like she had ever experienced.

"I am an adult. I can make decisions too! I am sorry I broke our promise, and I am sorry that Matthew got hurt, but I am SICK AND TIRED of people not believing in me! I TOLD him of the circumstances, I TOLD him of the risks involved. I am NOT STUPID! You don't think that I thought of my sister? You don't think that I LOVE HER? I HAD TO WATCH MY CHILDHOOD FRIEND FALL TO THE GROUND LIKE A GODDAMNED FUCKING ROCK AND YOU DON'T THINK THAT I GAVE ONE FUCKING THOUGHT OF WHAT THE CONSEQUENCES WERE? Who are you? WHO THE HELL ARE YOU? Where is my FRIEND? Where is my CONFIDANT? HUH? NO! YOU ARE JUST LIKE HIM! You put on a FUCKING front because you HAVE to! You don't love me. He doesn't love me. You can just GO TO HELL!" Jack screamed as he let her go, her body slipping to the floor, burying her head in her knees as she sits there in shock. He turned sharply and slammed his hand down on the emergency button to make the elevator start again.

As the elevator doors opened, he turned to Charlotte one last time as he held the door open as he spoke calmly and clearly. "If you loved me, you would listen to me before you make judgments. For once in your life, think about how I feel. Charlotte, I'm going to clean up and change, and then I'm leaving. I am leaving you, I am leaving my family, because I can't take it anymore. The blame, the abuse, the hatred that I feel that is directed towards me is too much. If you want to come with me, you can and you would, if you love me. If you love me, you would be down in the lobby waiting for me when I'm through getting dressed. If you don't meet me down there, then I'll know the truth, and you won't have anything to worry about, because you'll never have to see me again!" He spat as he turned and walked angrily down the hallway towards his father's office.

------------------------

Jackson stormed down the hallway to his father's office and looked both ways down the hallway. The secretary wasn't in yet, but his father had given him a key. He unlocked the door and went into the outer office. He then got to his father's inner office and walked inside. He looked around the room and walked to the small closet in the room. He pulled down a towel and a clean set of his father's scrubs. He walked to the private bathroom and gently peeled the jacket from his body.

He threw the jacket to the floor, almost gagging at the sight of Matthew's blood on it. He looked at his blood caked face in the mirror. "Jesus, I look like a train hit me." He said to himself as he ran his hand through his hair. He pulled his shirt off and looked at the scratches and bruises on his body from his fight with his father, and his climb on the mountain. He reached over and turned the warm water on in the private shower as he threw his shirt onto the ground next to his jacket. He kicked his boots off, sending mud and dirt flying throughout the small bathroom. He then peeled his socks from his sore, blistered feet and undressed the rest of the way. He stood, looking at himself in the mirror. Naked, vulnerable, the same way he had felt that entire day. Staring into his own eyes, he could see the pain and hurt in his soul. "I am such a fucking loser." He whispered to himself as he punched the bathroom mirror, shattering it into a million pieces.

He looked down at his hand, now bleeding from the shards of glass. "Who gives a shit anyway." He mumbled as he stepped into the shower, washing away what he could, which was only the dirt and grime on his body that accumulated through the day. He knew that the pain would be there forever.

Jackson finished his shower, dried off and combed his hair. He threw on his father's clean scrubs and his boots and kicked his other clothes as he grabbed his wallet and walked out of the bathroom. He stepped out into the hallway of the outer office and locked the door. He looked down the hallway towards the front door, and back the other direction towards the elevator.

"To hell with it!" he said to himself, frustrated. "I need to talk to Katie." He said as he stalked down the hallway to the elevator.

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Jackson takes the elevator to the fifth floor, maternity. He walks down the hallway and turns the corner. He sees Alli standing outside one of the rooms, leaning against the wall beside a door. He takes his best guess and figures that its his sister's room. He walks quickly, hoping that it won't register that he's not supposed to be there, but he walks right up to the door and just as he puts his hand on the doorknob, Alli covers his with hers.

"Where do you think you're going?" She says politely.

"I have to talk to my sister. I am leaving, I have to tell her goodbye." Jack said softly, trying to charm her with politeness.

"You're not on the list of people that are allowed in there, for one thing. And another thing, and by the scratches on your face and that angry look, I get the feeling that there is someone out there that isn't very happy with you." Alli replies, as Jack removes his hand from the doorknob, and looks at her.

"Can I please say goodbye to her? She's sleeping. I promise I won't wake her up." Jack said, peeking into the room.

Alli stared into his eyes, seeing the fear and desperation within. "Fine. You have five minutes, but don't wake her up!" Alli said as she reached for the doorknob and opened the door to let him inside.

Jackson approached her bedside quietly, he looked down at his sister as she slept peacefully, having no idea what was ahead of her when she woke up. His chest began to feel tight as he thought of all the pain that she was about to experience and prayed that she didn't wake up while he was standing there.

"Hey Katie-butt." Jack whispered. "I love you, big sister. I just wanted to come in here to tell you how sorry I am for what I did to Matt. I didn't mean for him to fall, I didn't want to hurt him, I swear." Jack whispered, his voice cracking as tears began to flow down his cheeks.

"I know that he'll make it. He has all of your love to keep him alive. You know, he didn't shut up about you the entire trip. He kept telling me about all of the things you guys were going to do with the babies, all of the plans you have for them, all of the…" He sniffles and wipes his tears on his arm. "All of the plans that you have the future."

"You tell my niece and nephew that I love them. Tell them that Uncle Jackson wants to take them fishing someday. Tell them that I miss them, please." Jackson's tears continued.

"Please promise me that you won't miss me. I don't deserve it. I deserve to be alone for a very long time, because I'm afraid that is the fate that I have given you. Tell mom not to be sad, I love her. And please don't blame dad for me leaving, it isn't his fault. Its mine. I love you, big sister. Thanks for always being there when I needed a smile or a laugh. I'll think of you whenever I see a butterfly, just like the ones we used to chase when we were younger. Tell Charlotte that I love her, and that I know that she loves me. I'm just a stubborn boy with stupid ideas in my head. I love you." Jack whispered as he lightly touched his sister's face.

"Goodbye Katie. Goodbye Ani and Michael." He whispered as he turned and walked out the door.

He didn't say anything to Alli as he passed her and continued down the hallway to the stairwell.

Katie stirred in her sleep as her eyes opened slowly. "Jack?" She whispered, as her eyes adjusted to the light. She looked around for a sign that her brother had been there, and found none. She was alone.


	52. Chapter 52

Chapter 52-

Jackson took his time walking down the stairs, he pulled his keys from his pocket and stared at them for a moment, contemplating once more not leaving. He turned the keys in his hand and noticed the long, deep cut from the base of his thumb to the start of his wrist.

_"Hold tight, Matty! I just have to cut your jacket off to check for bleeding! Shit! My hand! Don't worry buddy… I'm ok…"_

Jack cringed at the memory of the event as he grasped his keys tighter in his hand and continued down the ground floor. He stepped out into the lobby, quiet and darkened in the predawn hours. Doctors and nurses were either sleeping in on call rooms, or rushing to one emergency or another, the nurse's station was darkened and empty, Jack chuckled to himself at the irony. He looked around the lobby, sitting down in one of the cold, plastic chairs as he waited.

_"If you want to come with me, you can and you would, if you love me. If you love me, you would be down in the lobby waiting for me when I'm through getting dressed. If you don't meet me down there, then I'll know the truth, and you won't have anything to worry about, because you'll never have to see me again!" _

Jack stood up suddenly, taking one last look around the lobby. He listened closely but heard no footsteps coming down the hallway, no elevator coming to the floor, and he glanced at the stairwell, but no one entered the lobby. He walked to the front door and walked through the automatic doors, he stepped out into the cold rain and turned around one last time. "Goodbye, Charlotte. I love you." He whispered as he turned towards the parking lot.

He walked across the cold, wet parking lot as the rain fell hard on his skin.

_"I can't wait to get out there! I sure hope it doesn't rain out there!" Matt exclaimed excitedly as they drove their way up the long, mountain road._

Jack stood in the rain, standing outside of his car. He looked up to the sky and let the drops fall into his eyes. The drops fell to his face like pellets as they splashed on his hot, sore skin. He silently prayed that he was doing the right thing as he got into his car. He turned on the ignition and took one last look at the hospital as he put it into drive and drove as fast as he could out of the parking lot.

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"What are you looking out at?" Katie asked from her bed, at Charlotte, who is staring out her hospital room window.

Charlotte turned around and looked at Katie. "Huh? Oh. Nothing…" She responded. "Just the rain." She said as she turned to look back out the window, a lone tear traced its way down her face as she watched Jackson's car drive quickly out of the parking lot. "Just the rain." She whispered again.

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"_Matthew! Hurry up! Your plane leaves in an hour!" Rebecca called to her son, who is standing in the kitchen by the phone._

"Just five more minutes mom, she's going to call, I know she's going to call. I told her to call me!" Matt said as he stood by the phone waiting. He lifted the phone off the receiver to make sure that the dial tone was still there.

"Matt, she's not going to call. She hasn't called in two weeks, just leave her be." Rebecca replied as she walked to her son and put her hand on his shoulder.

"She has to call mom! I'm leaving and I don't know when I'm coming back! Why wouldn't she call me? She told me that she loves me." Matt cried out as he shook his mother's hand off his shoulder.

"Matt, we absolutely can't wait any longer, you have to get on that plane!" Rebecca said as she grabbed her son's arm.

"No! She WILL call. She loves me!" Matt insisted.

"If she loved you, she would have called by now! Now let's go! Your father is waiting in the car!" Rebecca said as she pulled her son out the door, locking the door behind her.

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__

::Ring, Ring::

::Ring, Ring::

"Hello, you've reached the Sloan residence, no one is available to take your call, if you'd like to leave a…."

::Click::

"Who were you calling, sweetheart?" Meredith asked, seeing her daughter's sad and forlorn expression as she sit on the couch, holding the phone. Her face was pale and sickly, her fingers and lips trembling.

Katie looked up at her mother, her eyes wide and tears ready be released. "Katie? Who were you calling, are you alright?" Meredith asked, crouching beside her daughter.

"No one." Katie said, swallowing the lump in her throat as she wiped away a stray tear. "I wasn't calling anyone." Katie said, her voice cracking as she ran quickly up the stairs to her bedroom, where she crashed her body onto her bed and began to cry.  


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_The sunlight peeked through the curtains of Derek's bedroom window and cast shadows against Derek's face. Meredith had been awake for about an hour now, just laying there, watching him sleep. There was a hollow, empty feeling down deep in her stomach. She knew he'd be leaving this morning and a part of her wanted to bolt quickly before he woke up just so that she wouldn't have to say the word out loud. The word that brought her here. The word that made her stomach turn. The word that made everything too real, too painful, too final...Goodbye._

She shifted slightly under Derek's embrace. She tried to ease her way out from the tangled sheets that weren't serving their purpose very well after the events of the previous night. She stopped moving, her body stiffening as Derek stirred a little. He stopped and settled back down, his face buried in the pillow, a hint of a smile on his lips.

Meredith slowly freed her arm from underneath Derek's torso and slid off the bed. She tiptoed around the room looking for her clothes. She silently cursed under her breath when she realized her clothes were outside, on the ground, mixed with the mud and the puddled rain.

She made her way into the kitchen to where Derek's luggage was placed. She lifted his suitcase and quietly placed it on top of the kitchen table. She slowly unzipped it and pulled out one of his t-shirts and a pair of his sweatpants. She slipped his clothes onto her thin frame. The pants were too big and she had to roll them up at the waist to keep them from falling.

She carefully pulled a piece of paper from a box beside the table. She scrawled a quick note and set it on his luggage. She peeked out the window of the trailer and saw their clothes strung out along the porch and the grass. She saw her tennis shoes outside the front door.

She opened the door and sat down on the top step. She slipped her tennis shoes on and picked up her wet soggy clothes from the ground. She left them in a wet pile on the bottom porch step and she slipped quietly back inside to retrieved a garbage bag to put her wet, dirty clothes in. She exited the trailer, stuffed her clothes into the garbage bag and got behind the wheel of her car.

Just like the previous night, she just sat there, staring at the trailer, unable to move, unable to back out of his driveway and never look back. She knew this was it. It was now or never. If she didn't leave now, Derek would wake up and she would have to say it out loud to his face. And, she couldn't do it. She couldn't look into his deep blue eyes and say it to him.

Sighing, she put the key into the ignition and back slowly out of the driveway. She drove in silent shock until she reached the ferry boat dock. The ferry boat. A constant reminder of Derek.

She pulled her car up the ramp and parked. She didn't get out. The realization of what she just left behind, struck her to her soul and she was too over come with emotion to stand at the moment. She grabbed the hem of Derek's shirt and brought it up to her face, smelling his sweet, yet masculine scent on the soft material. "Goodbye" She whispered as tears began to fall and her body shook as it was overcome with sobs.

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Derek woke to the sound of rain tapping lightly against the roof of the trailer. He opened his eyes expecting the room to be a lot darker and Meredith to be lying beside him. He jumped out of the bed frantically, thinking last night was just a dream...just his imagination holding onto Meredith as though she were real. He stumbled into the kitchen, half asleep. He glanced out of the window and saw that his car was the only car in the driveway. He began to think last night really was a dream.

His gaze followed the ground and he saw a pair of his jeans laying on the ground, halfway on the porch and half way in a puddle of muddy water. His t-shirt lay crumpled up at the base of the steps leading up to his front door. Derek ran his fingers through his hair and shook his head to clear his thoughts. It was then that he noticed his suitcase, lying on the kitchen table, unzipped, with a little folded piece of paper lying on top.

Derek picked up the piece of paper and knew he hadn't been dreaming at all as he recognized Meredith's handwriting. He expected to read the one word he didn't want to read. The one word that he was hoping he didn't have to say out loud. The one word that made everything too real, too painful, too final...Goodbye. Derek took a deep breath and unfolded the piece of paper. The one word he didn't want to read was not scribbled on that little piece of paper. There was nothing painful or final about what he read. In fact, there was only promise...'don't forget' was all Meredith wrote. And, Derek knew. He knew that he would never forget.

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6:00 am-

Katie lay in her bed, looking at the door as Charlotte continued to stare out the window. "Hey." Katie said, turning her head towards Charlotte.

Charlotte turned around and walked over to Katie's bed, she sat down in the chair next to the bed and leaned her arms and head on the bed. "Hey." She said.

"You look upset." Katie said, reaching her hand out to touch Charlotte's hand. "What's that?" She asks picking up her hand, examining it. "Is that blood?" she asked, looking in her friend's eyes.

"Uh…" Charlotte said, looking down at her hand, noticing she had a large smudge of blood on her shirt from when she had wrestled with Jacks. "No, I think its chocolate or something." Charlotte said.

Katie lifted Charlotte's hand closer to her. "It smells like blood." She said softly. "I'm a doctor, I know what blood smells like." She suddenly got a look of fear in her eyes. "What aren't you telling me, Charlotte?" Katie asked, her eyes filling with tears.

"I… uh…I need to use the restroom, I can use the one in the room, right?" she asked, indicating the door.

"Charlotte!" Katie exclaimed. "You need to tell me what's going on right this minute, because I had a dream this morning that Jackson came in here and told me that there had been an accident. That Matt was hurt! He was sad, and sounded awful. He was crying. He told me to say goodbye to everyone. He told me to tell you that he loved you. I had that dream and now you have blood on your hand and no one is telling me anything and my dad promised he'd be in here to visit me and he hasn't. What is going on!" She demanded, grabbing hold of Charlotte's arm tightly.

"He told you he loved me?"

"Yes. Now TELL ME WHAT IS GOING ON?" Katie screamed.

Suddenly, there was a small knock on the door as Derek walked in, followed by Meredith, Rebecca and Mark. Derek's scrubs had traces of blood, all of their faces were sullen and sad, as Meredith stepped forward to Katie's bed. She didn't say anything as she walked to Katie's bed and gently took her hand. Turning her hand around, Meredith gently set something in the palm of Katie's hand and took a small step backwards.

"Sweetheart, we have something very important to talk to you about." Meredith said, as she watched the look on her daughter's face turn from a curious stare, to a look of absolute horror as she stared at the small blue seashell resting in her palm.

"Mom?" Katie whimpered at the sight of the seashell.

"Sweetheart." Meredith said softly as she sat down next to Katie. "You need to stay calm when I tell you this." Meredith said in a calm, even tone, taking her daughter's hand.

"Is he dead?" Katie asked, point blank. There was no emotion on her face whatsoever.

"He is not dead. He's badly hurt, though." Meredith said, her face mirroring her daughter's.

"Can I see him?" Katie asked, still no emotion evident.

"I don't think…" Derek started.

"He's being prepped for surgery sweetheart, he's not awake right now." Meredith said.

"Can I see him?" Katie repeated, exactly as she had said before.

"Katherine." Derek said, softly but sternly.

"I'm sorry." Katie said, looking up at her father, over at Mark and Rebecca and then back to her mother. "I shouldn't have put that in the form of a question." Katie said mockingly. "Take me to see him now." Katie said, her voice stern.

"But he's…"

"Now. I need to see him now, I need to see his chest moving, I need to see his vital signs, Goddamn it Dad, I need to touch his skin, to make sure that its warm! To know that this is real and not a bad dream! Take me to him now!" Katie said as she gripped the seashell tightly in her hand and she started to swing her legs off the bed. Meredith took her hand and helped her to slide off the bed. No one else in the room moved except for Charlotte, who ran to the other side of the room and grabbed a wheelchair.

Meredith helped her daughter into the wheelchair as Mark, Rebecca and Derek watched on, still obviously in shock of the situation with Matthew. Meredith gets behind the wheelchair as Charlotte holds Katie's hand and the three of them leave the room silently, Meredith throws Derek an angry glare as she turns and closes the door behind her.

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Meredith pushes Katie's wheelchair in silence as they head towards the elevator. The hospital is now buzzing with more activity in the early morning hours. Charlotte continues to hold Katie's hand as they enter the elevator in silence and push the button for ICU. The elevator goes down one floor to ICU and Meredith carefully pushes the wheelchair down the hallway to a small room with the door closed. Meredith stops the wheelchair and walks around to the front. She crouches down in front of Katie and takes both of her hands in hers.

"Listen. You're a doctor. You know how sometimes, when you enter a room, you look at a patient in a certain way, where you are able to distance yourself from that person, right?" Meredith asked softly.

"Yeah… Mom, what are you saying?"

"Well… the Matthew that you see behind this door, he's not your Matthew. Your Matthew is a young, healthy vibrant soul that would never be brought down by a fall on a mountain. He has a charming smile, and a warm laugh that makes your stomach flutter. His voice is like a cool summer rain, lightly caressing your soul. When you walk into the room, and you see the tubes and machines that are keeping this man alive, I don't want you to be sad and think that all is lost. Your daddy and I are doing all that we can to bring your Matthew back to you. Do you understand sweetheart?" Meredith said softly as she reached up to caress her daughter's cheek. Katie nodded furiously as she held the little blue seashell tightly in her hand. "Are you ready to go in?" Meredith asked.

"Can I go in alone, please?" Katie asked softly, swallowing hard.

"Of course you can." Meredith said, standing up, holding a hand out for her daughter. "But if you need anything, you call for me, I'll be right here." Meredith said as Katie walked towards the door.

Katie turned around and looked into her mother's eyes. "Thank you mom." She whispered softly, and turned around to enter the room.

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Katie took a step into the room. She closed her eyes, afraid of what she might see. Closing the door behind her, she took a step forward and listened for a moment to the whirring of the machines, the beeping of the heart monitors. She took a deep breath and opened her eyes.

She gasped at the sight in front of her. Matthew was lying on his back, tubes running this way and that from his body. His hair sticks up under the bandage that is wrapped around his head. There is an overwhelming smell of blood, mixed with a stale, sterile hospital smell as she took a wavering step forward. His arm is in an air cast, his leg is braced. His body is bruised, scratched and battered. She takes two more quick steps to his bedside to get a better look at his face.

His eyes are closed and there is a peaceful look on his face as he lie there sleeping, a sweet angelic expression on his face. Katie places her hand on his chest, feeling the rising and falling of this chest. Feeling his heart beating beneath it, she sighs in relief when she feels his strong heart beating.

"I…I…" Katie started to whisper. "I love you." She says softly as she reaches up and touches his cheek. Suddenly, his heart rate begins to quicken just slightly, just enough for Katie to notice. She smiles as she looks down at him. "You can hear me, can't you?"

She runs her hand across his cheek, and lightly dances her fingers over his lips. "I miss you. I miss your voice." Katie whispered as she bent down and lightly kissed his lips. When she pulled her face from his, she watched as his eyes began to flutter. "Matthew? Are you awake?" Katie asks, her voice shaking as she sees a flash of green as his eyes open just slightly and close again. "Matthew? Butterfly, its Katie." She says as she watches his mouth moving slightly. His lips part and she can hear that he's trying to say something. She bends over him and puts her ear close to his mouth.

At first all she hears is his breathing and then she can hear as his voice is trying to come out. The whisper that she heard made a cold chill run down her spine. "I'm so glad… that…I… got to…. hear… your voice….one … last…last… time." As soon as the whisper had gotten out, his machines began to go off madly, his pulse was racing, his breathing erratic as he began to cough.

"MOM! MOM! GET IN HERE! MOM!" Katie screamed as she sat down hard on the chair next to Matthew's bed as a herd of doctors and nurses invaded the room.

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Meredith works furiously over Matthew, checking his vitals and administering medicine into his IV as Katie sits in the chair beside the bed, her head in her hands as she listens to the doctors bark orders. Finally, his pulse stabilizes and his breathing turns to normal as his body relaxes once again to a sleep like state. Still alive, still breathing, his life still hanging in the balance. After the nurses leave, Meredith crouches beside Katie.

"What happened, baby?" Meredith said, as she held her hand.

"He told me that he was glad to hear my voice one last time, then his machines went off. He can't go into surgery like this, mom. His vitals are so unstable. What are we going to do?"

"We'll just let him stabilize. Do you want to stay in here?" Meredith asked gently. "I can get you a more comfortable chair."

"I would like that very much." Katie said, trying her best to smile through her sorrow.

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Meredith turned to walk out of the room, when something occurs to Katie. "Mom!" She exclaims, jumping from her chair before Meredith walks from the room. "Where is Jackson? He was up on the mountain with Matt, is he ok?"

"Jacks is alive and he's hurt, but in a very different way from Matthew. He went home to get cleaned up. He thinks that you are going to hate him." Meredith said from the doorway.

"I don't hate him. I just need to make sure he's alright. I had a dream about him, before you came in the room. I dreamed that he said he was leaving. He told me to tell everyone that he loved them. You don't think he really left, do you?" Katie asked.

"Leave? Where would he go? Jacks will be ok, he just has to build his courage up a little. He'll be back soon. He loves Matthew." Meredith whispers.

"I miss him too." Katie whispered back.

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Jackson's Car-

"I am never going back." Jackson mumbles as he squeals out of his parent's driveway, his suitcase filled with clothes, his heart full of anger.

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May 9th

2pm- Matthew's Hospital room.

Katie has spent the better part of the day in Matthew's room. Meredith brought her a more comfortable chair and Katie sat by his bedside, watching him breathe for hours, only interrupted now and then by a nurse checking his vitals and for any changes. She talked and talked for hours, hoping that there would be some change. At two o'clock the door opened and Derek walked in quietly.

"Katie-bug?" Derek said softly.

Katie didn't lift her eyes from Matthew's body, she just continued to stare. "What?" she whispered.

"Katie, Rebecca is ready for you to get checked out, for the babies to be examined." Derek replied.

"No." Katie replied. "Not today." She said, continuing to stare at Matthew.

"Sweetie, you need to be examined, you need to make sure that Michael is alright." Derek replied.

"Michael is fine. I can feel him moving. Everything is fine. Just leave me alone." Katie said angrily.

"Katherine."

"Dad. No. Maybe tomorrow. Not today." Katie said as she continued to watch him.  
"I'll be back in an hour to see if you've changed your mind." Derek said as he turned to leave.

"You do that." Katie replied, still in a daze.

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Ten minutes later, Rebecca walked into the room. Katie turned to look, because she thought it was her father again. "Oh." She mumbled as she turned her head back to Matthew.

"How is he doing?" Rebecca asked as she stepped forward towards her son's bed.

"Same." Katie mumbled, squeezing his hand in hers. "How are you holding up?" Katie asked politely.

"I'm upset. I'm scared. I've never seen him this beat up before, it breaks my heart." Rebecca says, reaching to touch Matthew's face. "You're taking good care of him. I saw him when we first arrived this morning. I got a lot of my crying out then. I know he'll be alright. He has a lot of love on his side." Rebecca said as she ran her hand over her son's cheek. "Are you ready to get the babies looked at?" She asked softly, trying not to pry.

"No. They're fine. I had them looked at yesterday, they're fine. Just a little quiet. I'll do it tomorrow, I have to be here now." Katie said as she gently placed the little seashell in Matthew's hand and squeezed his hand over it.

"You have to be examined now, Katie, this is important." Rebecca said, a little more stern.

"No, I think that Matthew is just as important. Michael will be fine. He has always been a quiet one. Just let me be here. I'm a doctor, I know what is normal and what is not." Katie said stubbornly.

"Katherine." Rebecca said, grabbing Katie's arm hard. "You need to be examined now."

"No! Leave me alone about it! I will sign a goddamned AMA form if I have to, so just get out of my face, I'll be ready tomorrow." She said as she pulled her arm away from Rebecca quickly, sneering at her.

"You're making a big mistake."

"Touch me again, and it'll be you making the mistake." Katie growled back. 

Rebecca took a step backwards towards the door. "You keep it up, and I'll make sure that you're not allowed in this room with my son. You need that exam today. I don't want your stupid brother getting away with killing both my son and my grandson!" Rebecca said angrily as she turned and walked angrily out the door, leaving Katie in a state of shock.

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Katie stared at the door for several minutes, staring in disbelief after Rebecca. Katherine couldn't believe that she had the audacity to speak to her that way, as if she were a child. Katie turned back to Matthew and her heart melted when she was greeted by a set of warm green eyes, sparkling back at her.

"Matt!" Katie exclaimed as she ran to his side. She put her hands on his face and brought her face close to his. She bent down and kissed him on his lips and looked into his eyes, her blue eyes so light they were almost clear as tears began to fall down her cheeks. "You scared the hell out of me! Why did you say that to me? Why would you do that to me? I love you so much!" She exclaimed as she kissed his lips over and over, the last thing she heard from him echoing in her head.

Matt coughed a little, his eyes filled with love and longing. "Not… much… for…drama?" He asks, his voice raspy and dry, the machines still whirring and beeping in the background. "I love you." He says, wishing that he could pull her into his arms and hold her. "How is… the… double… bubble?" He asked, referring to her belly.

"Matty! I missed you so much! They're doing alright, butterfly. You're mother is here."

"I… heard… her. What did she… mean about…. Michael?" Matthew asked, a look of concern crossing his face.

"Nothing. Don't worry. Michael is fine, he's a little wiggle worm, and Ani loves you too, she's been jabbing me all afternoon. I am so happy that you're awake!" Katie said, tears pouring down her cheeks. "Matthew, what's wrong?" She asks, seeing a look of panic cross his face. "Matty?" She says, he can hear the panic in her voice.

"Shh…don't worry… can you…. get… your father…please?" Matt asked, his eyes still filled with fear.

"Why? Why do you need to see him now?" Katie asked. "Is there something you're not telling me?" Katie asks, realizing for the first time that the only thing that he has moved are his lips. She looks down at his hand, and his palm is open, with the little seashell setting on top. He gives no indication that he can feel it there. "I'll…. I'll go get him!" Katie said frantically as she ran for the door. She turned around and ran back to his bed, she kissed his lips. "Don't go anywhere!" She said instinctively, making him chuckle a little.

"I wont… I promise…" He said softly, watching her leave the room as fast as she can.

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May 9, 2032  
3:00pm- SGH

Katie ran to the nurses station and had her father paged to Matthew's room. She went back down the hallway quickly to Matthew's room. She walked into the room and his eyes were closed.

"You said you'd wait for me." Katie said as she approached the bed.

"I'm … still here…" Matt whispers, his eyes opening. He smiles a little at seeing her face. He stares at her for several seconds and then a look of worry crosses his eyes. "Where's Jacks? He was… hurt…his hand….and he was… cold…. He wouldn't … take the blanket… where is … he?"

"I haven't seen him." Katie whispered. "Mom said he went home. He was really upset. I'm angry at him. I'm angry at you!" Katie said. "As soon as you're out of this hospital bed, I'm going to put you back in it!" Katie joked.

"It was my… idea… please don't be mad… at Jackson…" Matt struggled to speak, his voice was so raspy, Katie could hardly make it out. "He saved… he….he saved my life."

"He put your life in danger, Matthew." Katie stated simply.

"No. I am… I am an adult… Jacks is too… he is a good…. Great… friend…I need …him here... I need to … tell him… thank you…" Matthew whispered.

"I don't want to talk about it anymore…" Katie mumbled.

Suddenly, Derek came running into the room, followed by Mark.

"Doctors… travel in… packs here." Matt smiled, his eyes moving to Katie's.

"You're awake!" Derek said, a grin spreading across his and his father's face.

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"Yeah. I…am awake…but…" Matthew starts, he glances over at Katie, who is watching him intensely. "Can… you…?" Matthew's eyes shift from Katie to Derek.

"Katie, can you leave the room please?" Derek asks, looking at his daughter's determined face.

"No." Katie responded, glaring at her father.

"Katherine, Matthew wants you to leave. You have to go. You can visit him after I discuss this with him."

"No, I want to know what's going on! I need to know the truth!" Katie exclaimed, starting to get upset.

"Katie…no…I don't… want you to… get upset…" Matthew said, concerned.

"Not knowing is going to make me upset!" Katie said angrily, glaring at her father. "Tell me!" She exclaimed, looking between Matthew and Derek.

"Katie. Please leave. Mark, please take her outside." Derek said, turning to Mark, who had been silent through the exchange, with a look of sadness at his son's condition. Derek turns to Mark. "Mark, please?" Derek says his eyes pleading with Mark.

"Katie, we really think you should go. We'll tell you what is going on, we just need to get the facts." Mark said softly as he reached for her hand.

Katie reared her hand back quickly and stepped forward to her father. "You don't get to tell me what to do!" She turns to Matt. "You either! You will let me stay, because if I walk out that door, I wont come back!" Katie threatened.

"Katie." Matt said, which suddenly made him victim of her glare.

"I'm serious." Katie said angrily to him.

Matt gave Katie one more pleading look, and moved his eyes to Derek, whose expression was one of concern and love. "She can stay." Matt said, giving in to Katie's stubbornness. Katie's eyes softened as she turned to her father before Matthew began to speak again. "Derek… I…can't feel my… arms…. Or my …. Legs. I am very…scared."

"You …you…OW!!" Suddenly Katie felt a sharp pain in her abdomen as she stumbled backwards.

"What's happening?" Matt said, panic in his voice.

Katie stumbles backwards into the chair. "Daddy! Help!" She screams in pain as Derek runs to her side. "Mark! Get someone now!" Derek screams at Mark who is standing dumbfounded at the sight before him.

Derek crouches next to Katie and turns his head to see that Mark is still standing there with a shocked look on his face. "Mark, GO GET REBECCA NOW!" He screams as he turns around to Katie and grasps her hand. She holds onto his hand as if her life depends on it. "Hold on sweetheart, we're going to take care of the pain. Just breathe. Just breathe…." Derek says as he winces from how tight she is holding his hand.

"But daddy…. It… hurts…" She said, sweat starting to fall down her face.

"I know sweetheart, I know…" Derek said as he tried to calm her.

"I'm sorry!" Matt calls, listening, helpless as he lie on the bed, tears flowing down his cheeks. "I love you, Katie!" He cries.

"I love you, Matty!" Katie cries. She takes deep breaths as the pain begins to subside. "I… I think I'm doing better." Katie says after a few minutes as her breathing becomes regular. "I think I should go talk to Rebecca." She says, looking deeply into Derek's eyes.

"You should have talked to me hours ago!" Rebecca says angrily from the doorway as she wheels a wheelchair into the room.

Katie looks pleadingly at her father. "Take care of him, daddy." Katie said as Derek helped her to stand up. She walked over to Matt's bed and looked down at him. "We'll be ok, sweetheart, I'm going to go with your mom, and I'll be back as soon as I know more about the babies. I love you." Katie said softly as she sat in the wheelchair.

"I love you." Matt replied as Rebecca wheeled Katie out of the room.

----------------------------------------

Derek looked over at Matthew, who is virtually hysterical I his bed, he can tell that the boy feels like he's a prisoner in his own body, watching the love of his life leave, sad and alone.

"Matthew, you need to calm down, she'll be alright." Mark said softly to his son. "You need to be more concerned with yourself right now."

Derek was a little surprised by that comment, but he understood. His son was lying in the bed, not being able to move, but Derek's heart went out to his daughter too, who is not only going through her own pain and suffering, but also has to deal with the fact that the love of her life can't comfort her in her time of need.

"Matthew, listen. I'm going to need to tell you the results of the tests. You're going to have to calm down." Derek said softly, wiping the tears from his face, trying to get him to listen. He lets him cry, knowing that emotion is his only way to let out his feelings.

"Derek, can you fix it? I want to hold her, Derek. I need to. I need to hold her, and I need to hold my babies. Please, Derek." Matthew cried.

"Based on the tests Matthew, there are two options. Both options are risky. The first one, you would end up being in a wheelchair for the rest of your life, and there is no guarantee that you will regain much, if any mobility, but you'll be alive. The second procedure is much more risky and it has only been done maybe three times, and not in the United States. There is a lot of therapy involved after this surgery, but you could regain full use of your extremities and go on with a normal life, the only problem with that surgery is, first of all, I don't know anyone that could perform it, and second of all, there is a very, very high risk of death." Derek says, concerned. Seeing the look of confusion cross across Matt's face.

"Be paralyzed or die? Is that what you're saying, Derek?" Mark barked at Derek, his eyes angry.

"That's not what I said." Derek said, looking at the rage building inside of Mark.

"Yes you did, you said, 'you're going to either be paralyzed or you're going to die'. Mark said, stepping forward.

"There's no sense in getting angry, Mark. We have options. We need to look at the options." Derek said calmly.

Mark pushed Derek, staring into his face. "That's easy for you to say, you're son is still alive and goddamned kicking, mine can't even piss without help!" Mark screamed.

----------------------------------------

"Mark! Stop it right now! We don't have time to argue of this, it isn't your decision, it's Matthew and Katie's decision!" Derek yells angrily.

"Katie's? Katie's? I don't think that any of your children should be making life altering decisions anymore, especially regarding my son! The first one of yours was too stupid to get herself checked out and ended up being dragged out of the room by my wife, possibly putting the life of her unborn child! The other one is so goddamned stupid, that he dragged my son up the side of a goddamned mountain and dropped him off the fucking side of it! You want to kill him, don't you?" Mark screamed.

"Dad!" Matt exclaimed from his bed, cringing in pain.

"Mark… stop…" Derek said, calmly. Trying not to make Matt any more upset than he already is.

"No! I don't think I will stop! What the hell is wrong with you, that you raised two if the biggest fuck-ups on the planet? Your daughter is a spoiled rotten, little vindictive bitch,that has been brainwashing my son since the age of five! Your son is…"

"DAD! SHUT UP!" Matt screams from his bed. "Derek, GET HIM OUT OF HERE!" He yells as he begins to sob again.

"Mark, its time you left!" Derek said as he swung open the door and started to pull on Mark's shirt.

"Don't touch me! This is my son's room! I can stay here!" Mark said angrily stepping farther into the room.

"Your son is an adult, he can make his own decisions, he wants you out. He's the patient and you are compromising his health, get out of here now or I will call security!" Derek said, walking up to Mark, staring him in the eyes.

"Call security." Mark says, glaring harder into his eyes. Derek doesn't miss a beat, he walks to the phone and presses a button. Mark walks over to him and takes the phone, he slams it down on the receiver. He glares at Derek, and he glares at Matthew, who is still crying. "Fine, I'll leave, but I'm not done with YOU yet." Mark says angrily as he pokes Derek in the chest hard, turns and walks out of the door.

As soon as the door is closed, Derek rushes to Matthew's bedside. "Are you alright?" Derek asks as he wipes his tears from his eyes.

"Yeah…" Matt mumbles, "Derek, I need you to help me with something…" Matt said softly, looking into his eyes. "You can't tell my parents." Matt whispered.

"What is it?" Derek said, moving closer to Matthew.

"I want…I want to sign something…for the babies… in case something happens to me, or to Katie… I want something signed to give you and Meredith custody of the babies…"

"Matt…" Derek whispered.

"No, I need this…" Matt said softly. "Please?"

"Matty, nothing is going to happen. You and Katie will both be fine, the babies will be fine. Don't do this to yourself." Derek replied, his eyes filling with tears.

"Derek…I know…how much you… love Meredith… I can feel it… I can see how strong it… is… You have always… taken such care with your…children… you love them … so much…I want to make sure… that my children always… feel that love…I want them… to be that…. lucky…"

"I think you should talk to Katie, Matt. I think that it is very important that you talk to her about this. Your parents will be very upset."

"I don't care… they don't love… Katie like… you and I love… her… You have always… been like…a father to… me…If I die... if something happens to Katie, I want… you to… be a father… to them…" Matthew cried.

"Promise me that you will talk to her, Matty. Promise me." Derek said. "You need to talk to her about the options. I can give you some time to think about it. You're stable right now, but if you choose the second choice, I'm going to have to request another specialist. She's a friend of mine and Meredith's. Would you be comfortable with that?"

"If she… is a friend… of yours, then I trust... her." Matthew said softly, closing his eyes for a moment, then looking straight at Derek.

"Listen, you get rest. I'll go check on Katie and make sure she's doing alright. I love you buddy, I'll do anything I can to get you up and chasing after those kids." Derek smiled.

"Thanks Derek." Matt smiles as he closes his eyes to rest.

----------------------------------------

May 10, 2032- 3pm-

**Well I wont back down, no I wont back down  
You can stand me up at the gates of hell  
But I wont back down**

Jackson looks at the time on the clock, his eyes still narrowed, his speed never slowing. The anger in his heart feels as if it has spilled over into absolute rage. The farther he drives, the stronger he feels. Every time he looks in the rear view mirror, he sees the bruise on his cheek, the scratches from the keys hitting his nose, his red, tear swollen eyes.

**Gonna stand my ground, wont be turned around  
And Ill keep this world from draggin me down  
Gonna stand my ground and I wont back down**

Alone, he's alone as he travels on the long highway. He sees a sign for Idaho in the distance on the now deserted highway. He slams on the gas harder, not caring if he is pulled over, or pulled off the road. There's no one to stop him now.

**Hey baby, there aint no easy way out  
Hey I will stand my ground  
And I wont back down.**

He looks down at his car's mobile phone. It has been going off for two hours now, a steady string of calls ranging from his mother, to Charlotte. He watches as the phone stops vibrating for several seconds. Only to start up again. He reaches over, flips open the glove compartment and throws the phone into it, slamming the glove compartment door on the cord. He reaches over and turns the radio on louder. He thinks that maybe if he plays the music loud enough, he won't hear his heart breaking anymore. "Fuck them all!" He grumbles to himself as he slams harder on the gas.

**Well I know whats right, I got just one life  
In a world that keeps on pushin me around  
But Ill stand my ground and I wont back down**


	53. Chapter 53

Chapter 53-

May 10, 2032  
4pm- SGH

Derek leaves Matthew's room and walks down the hallway towards the elevator. He catches the doors and jumps on, not realizing that there is someone else in it. He presses the button for the maternity floor and looks up at the numbers as the doors close.

"Derek." He jumped at the sound of her voice. The tone in her voice sent a painful shiver down his back. He swung around and was met with the tired, angry eyes of his wife.

"Huh?" he says, turning back to the doors. He looks up, stretching his neck, and closes his eyes. He brings his hand to his eyes and rubs them between the bridge of his nose as he sighs and looks down, still rubbing his eyes.

"Don't you dare, 'huh' me!." Meredith said angrily. "What the hell is WRONG with you?" Meredith raged, stepping in front of him, standing dangerously close to him.

"Ok, you're going to have to be more specific, which particular incident should I be ashamed of today?" Derek said, tiredly as he took a step back and leaned against the back of the elevator and ran his fingers through his hair.

"I have tried to call your son for hours now, and I can't get through to him! He ALWAYS answers my phone calls. What you did to him, is absolutely unforgivable and right now I honestly don't give a shit if I ever speak to you again!" Meredith screamed, her face red with anger, her body trembling with frustration and exhaustion.

"Mer…"

"Don't MER me either! I DO NOT WANT TO HEAR YOUR VOICE!" She screamed as she turned around as the door opened. She turned around quickly as she stepped off, holding the door with her arm, blocking him. "The only thing that you and I will discuss is our daughter's health, and our future son in law's health. That is all. You will not talk to me in any other capacity. Do you understand me?" She says in a hushed, angry voice.

"…"

"I SAID DO YOU…" Her voice was muffled by Derek's hand covering it.

"I understand you, let's go." He says as he lets go of her and walks past her down the hallway, leaving her standing there, becoming angrier by the second.

----------------------------------------

4pm- Exam room

Katie is sitting on the exam room table, with her legs in the stirrups. Her belly is exposed and Rebecca is carefully examining the ultrasound.

"See! He's moving!" Katie says excitedly when she sees Michael wiggling around.

"Quiet, I'm trying to concentrate." Rebecca says as she studies the machine. She stares at it for a long period of time without saying anything. She just watches the babies moving, and listens carefully to the heartbeats for several more minutes, writing in the chart. Katie starts to get anxious and begins to wiggle her toes, just wishing that the awkward silence would stop. "Stop that." Rebecca says.

"Stop wha…"

"Shh… just stop it!" Rebecca says sternly.

"But I didn't do any…."

"Katherine, shut up." Rebecca says angrily as she smacks the instrument down onto Katie's belly harder than she should have.

"Rebecca!" Katie squeals as she swats at her hand and tries to sit up.

"Katie, stop being such a goddamned baby!" Rebecca says, pushing her down on the bed, continuing to monitor the babies.

"Get the hell away from me now!" Katie says, swatting at Rebecca's hand again, trying to get up.

"Just lay back and stop being a little snot! Jesus Christ, between you and your brother, I don't think I've ever met two more stubborn and stupid people." She says as she

"Get away from her, Rebecca." Meredith says as she steps into the room, her eyes narrowed in rage. "You're off her case."

"What do you mean? You called me here to check on her, and now you're pulling me off the case?" Rebecca argues.

Meredith steps forward and pulls the instrument from Rebecca's hand. "You obviously have a problem with keeping your personal life out of your professional life. I can see from your notes, that Michael is just fine." Meredith says looking at Katie's chart.

"He's fine?" Katie asks, looking up at Meredith.

"Yeah." Meredith says, glaring at Rebecca. "It says he's a little underweight, but he should be fine." Meredith growls. She looks over at Katie. "I'm going to call Izzie to come over here and do another quick check, if we need a specialist, we'll get another one. You're too close to the case Rebecca."

"Whatever. I'm going to go see my son!" Rebecca growled as she walked towards the door. "Thanks to yours, he won't even get to hold his children!" She yells as she stomps out the door, nearly smashing into Derek. "Excuse me!" She says angrily as she goes down the hallway quickly.

Derek opens the door slightly. "Hey, is it safe to come in?" He says softly as he tries not to look in.

"Just a second." Meredith calls as she helps Katie to get dressed and sit up. "Ok. Come in." Meredith says.

Derek steps into the room. "Why did she rush out of here like that?" Derek asked, confused.

"We had a little disagreement." Meredith said politely.

"Seriously mom? A little disagreement? I would rather have Satan himself delivering my children than have her come anywhere near them!" Katie said, visibly upset.

Derek looked at Meredith, Meredith's eyes went to Katie. "I don't know about Satan, sweetheart, but if we need a specialist, I know where we can find the next best thing." Meredith said, holding out her hand to Katie. "Lets get you to your room, its time to get you something to eat." Meredith said as Katie took her mother's hand and walked out the door with her, flashing Derek an angry glare as she walked past.

----------------------------------------

6:00 pm- Butte, Montana-

Jackson pulls into a diner parking lot. He's been on the road all day and has only stopped for gas and a candy bar. He is exhausted and hungry. He steps out of his car and stretches, he takes a deep breath and scowls as he trudges towards the door of the diner. He steps inside and looks around. The place is almost empty, despite it being dinner time.

"Sit wherever you please, young man." The woman behind the counter says as he looked around at the tables. He walked to the right and sat down at a table and picked up a menu. He flipped through it slowly. He suddenly felt like he was being watched as he sat there. He looked up slowly from his menu, but didn't see anyone right away, so he looked back down.

The waitress came over and took his order. Jackson sat back in the booth and ran his hand through his hair and closed his eyes. He took a deep breath and opened them and immediately saw two dark eyes staring at him from across the room. The beautiful girl that the eyes belonged to, turned her head quickly, knowing that she had been caught looking. Jackson smiles a little to himself, but then his thoughts immediately shift to Charlotte. The scowl returns to his face as he slumps down in the booth and stretches his feet across to the seat across from him. He stares down at the table for a few minutes and looks up again.

The girl shifts her stare again. Jack smiles a little and puts his head down, he glances up quickly and the girl turns her head. Jack can see a smile on her face, but before he knows it, his dinner has arrived. After starting his meal, he looks up, and the girl with the brown eyes is gone. Jacks just sits back and finishes his meal in silence, wondering where the road was going to take him next.

----------------------------------------

8pm- SGH-

"Mama?" Katie mumbled from her bed, waking up from a nap. She looked around the room and saw Charlotte sitting at a table, typing feverishly.

She looks up. "Your mom went home to get a couple of things for you. She said she'd be back soon. How are you feeling?" Charlotte asked.

"I'm tired. I need to see Matt." She said softly, her voice tired and worn.

"Your mom said she'd take you down to see him when she got back. She didn't leave too long ago." Charlotte replied. Suddenly, her cell phone rang and she picked it up. "Hello? Hi Mer. Um… nope. I've tried too. A note? What did it … oh… crap! He didn't! I'll keep trying. Ok, we'll see you soon. Bye." She closed the phone and looked out at nothing for a second.

"What did my mom want?" Katie asked.

"Jacks left. He packed a suitcase and took off." Charlotte said, glancing at Katie.

"He has run away before, he'll come back." Katie said.

"I don't know if he's coming back this time. Your mom said he trashed a lot of your dad's stuff." Charlotte said.

"Not his collection!" Katie said nervously.

"Yep. He smashed your father's model boat collection with a baseball bat."

"He's dead!" Katie exclaimed.

"He's lucky he wasn't killed by him earlier today." Charlotte mumbled.

"What?" Katie asked, looking over again.

"Nothing… I was just thinking to myself." Charlotte said. "Just relax, your mom will be here soon." Charlotte said as she continued to type into her computer. "Then I have to go do something." Charlotte said softly.

----------------------------------------

8pm- Somewhere in Montana-

Its starting to get dark out and Jacks eye lids are getting heavier. The longer he drives, the stronger he feels. His scowl has been replaced by a tired grin, his brain is on autopilot as he drives down the lonesome highway alone. His phone has long since stopped ringing, his brain has long since stopped functioning. He just trudges on ahead, alone and completely out of it.

**Ive just reached a place  
Where the willow dont bend.  
Theres not much more to be said  
Its the top of the end.  
Im going,  
Im going,  
Im gone.**

His mind begins to wander, as his eyes focus on the lines in the road ahead of him. There are barely any other cars as he picks up his speed once again, nevermind the speed limit, nevermind the physical danger. It doesn't matter. His own father told him to get out of his life, his mother barely took him aside, his supposed soulmate left him stranded in the hospital lobby, even she didn't love him. Jackson slammed his fist down hard on the steering wheel. "I don't need them, anyway." He mumbled to himself.

**Im closin the book  
On the pages and the text  
And I dont really care  
What happens next.  
Im just going,  
Im going,  
Im gone.**

"I've always been good, I've never done anything wrong in my life. All I have ever done is defend people, my whole life. Dad only saw it as me getting in fights. I have never picked up a goddamned cigarette. I have never done drugs. The worst thing that I have ever done was get drunk with my underage girlfriend, at her house. Its not like I drove drunk, its not like I asked for it. I still was crucified for it. I never do anything right. No matter what I think is right, it has always turned out to be wrong. I am such a goddamned fuck up."

**I been hangin on threads,  
I been playin it straight,  
Now, Ive just got to cut loose  
Before it gets late.  
So Im going,  
Im going,  
Im gone.**

_"Jackson, I love you." Charlotte whispered.  
"I miss you Charlotte, why did you have to make me go? Why did you make me leave?"  
"Jacks. Please come home."  
"I can't Charlotte. You don't love me.  
"I don't love you?"  
"You don't love me."  
"I DON'T LOVE YOU!"_

**Grandma said, boy, go and follow your heart  
And youll be fine at the end of the line.  
All thats gold isnt meant to shine.  
Dont you and your one true love ever part.**

Suddenly Jackson's eyes fly open and he screams he's heading right into the back of an eighteen wheeler. He slams on his brakes hard and his car begins to do circles in the middle of the road. His tires screech as his body is wrenched from one side to the other. Finally, the car slows its spin, resting the wrong way on the side of the road, smashing into a reflector. His head slams against the window as the car comes to rest, Jackson promptly passes out.

**I been walkin the road,  
I been livin on the edge,  
Now, Ive just got to go  
Before I get to the ledge.  
So Im going,  
Im just going,  
Im gone.**


	54. Chapter 54

Chapter 54-

May 11, 2032

6 am- Somewhere in Montana

::BANG BANG BANG::

"ow…" Jacks moans as he moves his head from the window.

::BANG BANG BANG::

"What the hell…." He groans as he looks up. The sunlight is brightly shining in on him, blinding him and making his headache worse.

"Hey! Are you alright?" He hears a voice from outside, and can't make out who is talking to him.

"HEY!" ::BANG BANG BANG::

"I would be fine if you would please stop hitting my car!" Jacks mumbles.

"What? I can't hear you! Are you alright?" :: Bang, Bang::

Jackson looks up as his eyes adjust to the light and he sees a pair of familiar eyes looking in at him. He is mesmerized for a moment, he cannot tell if its because of the beautiful girl standing outside his car, or the splitting headache from smashing his head on the window. She presses her face closer to the window. "Are you alright?" She asks slowly.

Jackson doesn't say anything. He carefully unbuckles his seatbelt, rubbing his shoulder from where the seatbelt cut into his arm, he opens the door carefully. Without saying anything to the girl, he gets out and assesses the damage to his car. "Shit." He says, seeing the scratch along side his car. "Shit shit shit! Goddamn it!" He screams as he kicks his car over and over, realizing right away that he is suffering from whiplash from the accident, he cringes as he holds his neck and leans against the car, sliding to the ground.

The girl watches the whole scene play out before her and becomes very concerned. She sits next to him, also leaning against the car. "Hey, you alright?" She asks, trying to get a good look at his face, his hair is a mess, his face is cut up and bruised.

"Can you say anything else?" Jack snaps. "No, I'm not alright! Who the hell are you?" He says grumpily.

"I'm Sam." The girl says, holding out her hand. "Sam Grossman." She says with a smile, what's your name?"

"Who cares." Jack says angrily.

"Ok, 'who cares'. I don't know if you noticed it, but you parked your car going the wrong way." She says seriously.

"You're a smart ass, Sam." Jack snapped.

"Damn straight, so, where are we going?" Sam asks, standing up, taking a good look at the car. "You must be loaded, driving around a BMW convertible. That, or its daddy's car. Wow, daddy is going to be pissed when he sees that scratch!" Sam points out, running her finger along the side of the car.

"It's not my father's car. My father's dead." Jack mumbled into his knees.

"Hmm… then maybe he won't mind so much. You almost visited daddy last night it looks like. Hey, where we going, 'who cares'?"

"I, am going away. You need to go away…" Jack said angrily.

"That doesn't make any sense. Let's go." Sam says, walking to the other side of the car. She opens the passenger side door.

"What are you doing?" Jack asks, standing up, wobbling. "Where the hell did you come from?"

"Originally? Or this morning? Originally, I'm from Boston. Born and raised! Red sox fan! You like the Red Sox?"

"No! Where did you come from this morning?" Jack asked, stumbling over to the drivers side.

"Oh. I just finished classes. I'm a freshman at Oregon State University. My mom got me plane tickets to fly home, but I decided it'd be more fun to hitchhike, you know… see the country."

"That's stupid, and dangerous."

"Actually, sleeping while driving is stupid and dangerous. Are you ready to go?" Sam asked, getting into the passenger seat and closing the door.

"Whatever. BUT I AM DROPPING YOU OFF AT THE NEXT TOWN!" Jacks yells towards her as he walks around the car to the driver's side. He gets in the car and closes the door behind him. He looks over at her and she smiles sweetly at him.

"Come on… take me for a ride, I won't bite." She says with a giggle. "Unless you ask me nicely."

"What did I get myself into!" Jack asks himself, with a sly smile on his face as he starts his car, and turns around, heading down the highway once again. This time feeling a little less alone.

------------------------------------------------------

May 11, 2032-

6am- Meredith and Derek's house

Charlotte drives slowly up the long driveway, she has done so a million times, but never has she felt so alone as today. She sighs when she looks down the driveway and doesn't see his car. She checks her cell phone again, still no phone call. She dials his phone again, it rings and rings, still no answer. She flips her phone closed and throws it into her back seat. She parks the car at the top of the driveway and she walks back to the pond. To their spot. She closed her eyes as she walked down the well worn path down two bends, three rocks and past the stump shaped like a heart to the water's edge.

Charlotte opened her eyes, praying that he would be sitting there waiting for her, knowing that it wasn't going to happen. She sat on the edge of the water and looked over at the boat. 'Her' boat… 'Their' boat…sitting beside her on the bank. She sighed deeply and lay back on the cool grass, her arms extended over her head as she thought hard about the past three days. She sat up and yawned. Standing up, she approached the wooden fishing boat and pulled it out along the small pier. She put it into the water, where it was just deep enough. She tied the boat to the end of the pier and walked slowly back to the bank.

At the bank, looked around briefly and found exactly what she was looking for. She picked up the rock with two hands. She heaved it carefully to the end of the pier. Looking down into the boat, she notes again, the beautiful craftsmanship of the vessel, the love and tenderness that had been put into each and every part of the boat. She sighs deeply and looks to the sky.

"You have until this boat sinks, Jackson Shepherd. If you're not home then, you've lost both of us!" She yells loudly into the cool morning air. She gently lifts the rock down, and sets it into the boat, watching the boat go down, just slightly more into the water, by the weight of the rock. She stands up angrily and brushes herself off, staring down at the boat.

She then turns around and walks out of the woods, back to her car, where she sits down, leans over the steering wheel, and cries.

------------------------------------------------------

May 11, 2032- 6 am- SGH

Katie shifted in her bed, her head moving back and forth as if in the middle of a bad dream. "Baby?" Meredith whispers as she touches her daughter's forehead. "Little girl?" Meredith whispers.

Suddenly Katie starts. Her eyes pop open in fear, but immediately soften upon seeing her mother's eyes looking down at her. "Mama…" Katie mumbled with a sleepy smile. "Mama, it was awful." She says, looking around the room. Suddenly she sits up quickly. "Matthew!" She exclaims. "Where's Matthew?" She asks panicking.

"He's ok, sweetie, he's still in ICU. He's doing alright this morning; I already went in to check on him. Your daddy is in there right now with him. If you want, I can bring you down to his room, but you have to stay in the wheelchair, no excuses." Meredith says as she holds Katie's hand.

"Ok." She whispers as Meredith helps her up out of the bed. "But what if…" Katie says, her eyes a little frightened.

"They went to a hotel last night, they are only allowed at visiting hours." Meredith assured her. "Let's go." She says as she pushes Katie from her room and down the hallway to the elevators.

When they get to the room, Meredith knocks lightly and Derek comes to the door. He opens the door for the two of them and lets them inside. "Hey sleepyhead." Katie says softly as Meredith rolls her to the bedside.

"Hey…my… little… girl…" Matthew says slowly.

Derek walks to Meredith and touches her arm. She shifts away, but pays attention. "What do you need?" Meredith said, with a slight scowl.

"We need to talk." Derek said, he turned around to watch Katie and Matthew for a second and then turned his attention back to Meredith. "Please?" He whispers. Meredith nods and they walk out into the hallway together.

Meredith turns to face him, and leans on the wall next to the door as the door closes behind them. "So what's going on with him?" Meredith asks.

"Extensive swelling in his upper and lower spinal column. It appears that fluid is starting to accumulate there, and its causing pressure on his spinal cord and nerves. If we don't fix it soon, the results could be catastrophic for him. We could straighten the spine and put a rod in his back, but its risky in his state right now. There's another surgery, but its only been successful in three incidences."

"Only three?"

"Only three. Its been attempted, by some, but it has only been successful three times. Its up to him, its their choice. But I would put a call in to Aurora to let her know that we may need her.

"Aurora?"

"Yeah. She's the only one that has done this successfully. Its time to call in the big guns." Derek whispered, a worried look crossing his face.

------------------------------------------------------

May 11, 2032 - 7:00 AM- Billings, Montana-

"You're quiet." Sam said as Jack drove, his face emotionless as he pulled into the parking lot of a gas station.

"You're not." Jacks said as he parked the car. "Ok, this is your stop." Jack said as he motioned to the parking lot.

"You're dropping me off in Billings, Montana? Come on, give me a break. I've hitched rides with about five people in the past three days, and you're going to drive me an hour and that's it? Come on, where are you going anyway?" Sam complains, turning her head, leaning it on the back of the seat as she gives him a sad face.

"I don't know where I'm going, but you can't come with me." Jack said, refusing to look at her.

"Come on! If you don't know where you're going, how are you going to know when you're there?" Sam asked, seriously.

"Remember what I said before you got into my car?"

"That I'm a smart ass?"

"Yeah, well it still holds true."

"I know I'm a smart ass. PLEASE will you take me home? You said you don't have anywhere else to go! Please?" Sam begs as she gives him her best puppy eyes.

Jackson gives her a glare and stares into her dark brown eyes. He sees a little sparkle and she smiles just a little. "Fine! I'll take you as far as I can, but the minute I get sick of you, you're getting out of the car!"

"You're the best!" Sam says, reaching across, giving him a hug. Jack stiffens up under her touch. She pulls herself back for a second and looks him in the eyes. "Hey… I'm sorry. I guess I was just a little too excited, are you ok?" Sam asked as she sat back in her seat.

"No, I'm fine, I'm just… I don't know, I'm just tired, I guess." Jack said sitting back, looking out his side window, staring at the gas station.

"Oh, ok." Sam said quietly "Hey." Sam said quietly, trying to get his attention.

"What?"

"Can we drive with the top down?"

"No."

"Why not? It's a convertible! Please?" Sam begged.

"Remember what I 'just' said about getting sick of you?" Jack said, sending her a glare with a hint of a smile.

A small giggle was Sam's only response as Jack put the car in gear and they continued on their way.

------------------------------------------------------

May 11, 2032- 1:00 pm-

Meredith walks towards the elevator and presses the button. The elevator doors open and reveals Derek standing there with a smarmy grin on his face. Meredith takes one look at him, scowls and turns around to walk away. Derek reaches out and grabs the back of her lab coat and pulls her into the elevator with him.

When she's in the elevator, and the door closes, she stands, staring at the doors. He attempts to put his hand on her shoulder. "Do. NOT. Touch. Me." Meredith growls.

Derek recoils his hand quickly. "Wow." He whispers to himself.

Meredith whips around and pushes him violently against the back of the elevator. "What did I tell you about talking to me? HUH? Touching me? Who the hell do you think you are? You're a self centered, arrogant, LITTLE man, who cares nothing for his own son! Do you have absolutely any idea where he is? DO YOU EVEN CARE? I can't even stand to LOOK at you!. ARGH!!!" Meredith yelled, as she turned back around and faced the doors of the elevator.

"I don't know what to say. I over reacted." Derek whispered.

"You did a little more than over react, Derek. You drove him away. Its been building for months, for YEARS, and you finally did it. Your only son hates you! I hope you're happy!" Meredith yelled, as the elevator doors opened and she stomped down the hallway.

------------------------------------------------------

1pm- Somewhere in North Dakota-

"Are you going to tell me your name?" Sam asks, breaking the silence.

"No. You don't need to know my name." Jack replied, just looking out on the road.

"Yeah I do! What if I get in trouble, and I need to call you?"

"First of all, you're not going to get in trouble, second of all, don't call me. I'm a fuck up, I'd probably fuck that up too." Jack mumbles.

"Hmm…" Sam says, looking out the window. Suddenly she hears a sound. "Hey, what's that sound?" She asks, turning to Jacks.

"What sound?"

"That buzzing sound."

"Oh, it's the stupid phone." Jack said, looking over at her curious face. "Just ignore it." He said, giving her a little smile of reassurance, despite his foul mood.

"Ignore it? It's been doing that for hours." She said as she flipped open the glove compartment.

"Jesus, how old are you? I said, ignore it!" Jack says, trying to grab the phone, while trying to drive.

"Well, I'm eighteen if you MUST know… and…" She looks at the screen on the phone and starts to giggle.

"What?"

"Nothing…hehehe"

"What, just tell me!"

"Nothing…. It… just that, your phone says that 'MerBear' is calling you." She continues to giggle.

Jack looks embarrassed as he glances over at her. "Goddamn it, my stupid father reprogrammed my phone. That's my mother!" Jack says, swatting at the phone.

"Your mom's name is MerBear?" She giggles as she holds the phone farther from him.

"No, dumbass, her name is Meredith, that's my father's stupid nickname for her!" Jack says, frustrated. "Give me the phone!" He demands.

"No… Wait… your mom knows your name!" She giggles as she answers the phone. "Hi MerBear!" Sam giggles into the receiver.

"Jackson?" Meredith says on the other side.

Sam looks up at Jack with raised eyebrows and smiles. "Hmm… Jackson can't come to the phone right now, he's driving. You can talk to me if you want!" Sam giggles.

"SAM!" Jack yells as he grabs the phone out of her hand. "Sorry, Mom. I'm fine. I love you, bye." Jack says as he flips the phone shut and throws it into the back seat. Two seconds go by and it starts to ring once more. Sam giggles madly from the passenger seat, unable to catch her breath she's laughing so hard.

"That was so not funny!" Jack says seriously as Sam continues to laugh hysterically. "Sam, stop it. It's not funny!" He says, sternly again.

"Come… on… you have… to admit…" She giggles louder. "That was so freaking hysterical." She laughs louder and harder.

Jack glances at her, his face still stern. Her face is red from laughing so hard, her laugh is infectious, her eyes are smiling at him, and he can't help but smile at the laughing girl beside him. He smiles slightly, and soon he starts to laugh too.

Driving together, laughing, Jack lets her put her hand on his shoulder, as she laughs into his arm, her wiping the tears of laughter onto his shirt, and suddenly he doesn't feel as lonely anymore.

------------------------------------------------------

1pm- SGH-

Meredith looks at her phone for a second and checks the number that she just called. "That's weird." She says, as she tries to dial her son's phone again. The phone goes directly to voice mail.

"What's weird?" Katie asks, looking over at her mother.

"Oh… um…"

"What? Did you get ahold of him?"

"Kind of… it was weird, someone answered, and then Jack was on the phone, said he was fine and then hung up. Does he have a friend named 'Sam'?" Meredith asked, looking completely puzzled.

"I don't think so… Maybe its some guy he met in school." Katie says.

"It was a girl." Meredith said, still confused.

"You're saying that Jack ran away with some girl?"

"I don't know what I'm saying." Meredith said as she tried to shake off the strange feeling of panic building inside of her. "Sometimes, I just don't think I know my own son." Meredith mumbled as she turned around. "I'll be right back, sweetheart." Meredith said as she walked out of Katie's room.

------------------------------------------------------

Meredith walks down to the elevators and down the hallway to the elevator. She holds her breath as the doors open. She releases the breath when she steps into the empty elevator, silently thankful that it is empty. She takes the elevator to the ICU floor. She rubs her eyes tiredly as she walks down the hallway towards Matthew's room. Suddenly, she hears two men arguing angrily in a nearby office. She recognizes both voices and sighs to herself as she walks down the hallway towards the office.

"YOU WILL NOT LISTEN TO HIM! DO YOU UNDERSTAND ME? THERE IS NO WAY THAT YOU ARE SIGNING THOSE PAPERS!" Mark screams as he tries to grab a folder from Derek's hands.

"Stop it! They were drawn up for MATTHEW, not YOU! IT IS NOT YOUR DECISION! I HAVE TO TALK TO MEREDITH AND THEN WE'RE SIGNING THE GODDAMNED PAPERS!" Derek screamed from the other side of the desk, keeping the folder away from Mark.

"What papers?" Meredith asks tiredly from the doorway, as she walks over and grabs the folder from her red faced husband..

"Oh, hi sweetheart." Derek says as he gives Mark a smarmy look. He looks down at Meredith and she glares at him. "Sorry." He mumbles.

"These are custody papers." Meredith says as she flips through the documents. She looks up at Derek, who nods as he looks at them with her.

"Matthew wants us to sign them. He said that he won't go through with any surgeries unless he knows that the babies are well taken care of." Derek says, looking up at Mark, who's face is getting angrier by the second.

"Did he talk with Katie about this?" Meredith asks as he looks over at Mark, and then back to Derek. Derek nods.

"They both signed here." Derek says, pointing at Katie's careful scrawl and Matthew's initials. "We have to sign, and if anything happens to them, we have full custody." Derek said looking down.

Meredith looked up at him, and back to Mark and back up at Derek. She pulls a pen carefully from her lab coat pocket, signs her name in the allotted spaces and looks up at Derek again. She then puts her pen back in her pocket and walks towards the door. She turns around and glares at Derek, pointing her finger at him "You. STAY!" She says sternly as she turns around, grabs Mark's arm and pulls him out into the hallway.

She drags him down the ICU hall away from the office where Derek is.

"Meredith!" Mark exclaims as she pulls him to a corner and looks him in the eye. Mark sees the look in her eyes and doesn't say a word.

"If you think, for one second that I am going to let anything happen to either one of our children, then you have never had faith in me. Matthew… will be fine. I have one of the best neurosurgeons in the world looking over his case right now. Katie, will be fine. She is cranky, overwhelmed, and scared SHITLESS! My son… MY SON IS MISSING! He is off, gallivanting with strangers, doing GOD KNOWS WHAT in a severely depressed state. His GIRLFRIEND IS HEARTBROKEN, he hates his own father with such a passion that it makes me shudder to just think about."

"MY husband… my husband is an ASS. He kicked the shit out of his only son, for what I can only imagine was the last straw for the poor kid! You have always loved that boy. PLEASE, think of him… THINK OF HOW HE MUST FEEL RIGHT NOW! He broke his friend, Mark. He broke his friend and all he has to show for it is bruises, cuts, and a broken heart. Derek beat the shit out of the boy and he took off… He is out there, alone, guilty, probably scared out of his mind. I AM SCARED OUT OF MY MIND! I CAN'T TAKE THE FIGHTING! I CAN'T TAKE IT!" Meredith screams as she pounds on his chest, her tears over flowing as she screams.

After several seconds, she regains composure, enough to go on. "YOU…. You don't give a shit. You don't give a goddamned shit about my son, or my daughter, or my husband, or even me at this point. Right now, all you can do, is yell at Derek and act like an ASS in this hospital. ALL I ASK… Mark… ALL I ASK! Is for a little bit of GODDAMNED COMPASSION…. I want you to know… that I understand what you're going through right now, and I know that you're scared. But PLEASE…know…. Please know that I will do everything I can, to get things back to normal. Those papers don't mean shit Mark. Our children will be fine. They will be able to grow old, and live healthy lives together, with their children. So its not about the papers, Mark. Its not about the goddamned papers!" Meredith screams as she pushes his chest one more time and turns around and walks angrily back down the hall to Matt's room.

------------------------------------------------------

Meredith stalks angrily down the hallway and turns into Matthew's room. She swings the door open and closes it lightly, leaning against the door for support, she wipes the tears from her eyes. She sees that Matthew's eyes are closed and she sighs. "Argh… men are so stupid sometimes." She whispers to herself, out loud.

"What …did they…do this time?" Matthew whispers from his bed, his eyes flickering open, a smile playing on his lips.

"Oh, you're awake, you little sneak." Meredith smiled as she stepped away from the door and walked to Matthew.

"Yeah…" He smiles.

"Don't you worry about why I'm upset. You just worry about you." Meredith whispered, touching his cheek lightly.

"I don't… want…. to… worry anymore…" Matt said, his smile fading. "Meri, where… is Jacks?" He whispers, tears springing to his eyes. "I think… that… people are… keeping things from… me. Is… he hurt…?" Matt asked.

"Jacks? Why do you have to ask me the tough questions?" Meredith teased. Matthew smiled a little. "Well, I think you deserve the truth, don't you?" Matthew blinked back his tears as he listened to Meredith. "Jackson left the morning you both came in. He made sure that you got off the helicopter alright, and he and Derek got into a big argument."

"Crap." Matt mumbled.

"Yeah. It was a really bad one, and both of them said things that they shouldn't have. Jackson left that morning and we haven't been able to get a hold of him since." Meredith whispered. "I heard him on the phone this morning, someone answered his phone. A girl named 'Sam'. Did he have any friends by that name, that you know of?" Meredith asked.

"No. Only… talked… about… Char." Matt said with a wry smile.

"Hmm… it was really strange… well, I won't get into that. But we've been trying to get him on the phone, with no success." Meredith said sadly as she hovers over Matthew's bed for a few minutes, looking into his eyes.

"You miss… him…" Matthew stated.

"Yeah, I really miss him a lot." Meredith said softly.

"He's my snuggle pal. When he was a little boy and I would get sad, or come home from work tired, he'd crawl into my lap, and set his little head on my shoulder. He was always as quiet as a little mouse. He'd hum a little song and say… "Mama…" really softly. And I'd say "What is it, snuggle bug?" And he'd giggle and say. "Just making sure you're still awake." Meredith said, as tears began to slide down her cheeks.

"I miss him." Meredith said.

Matt could see the sheer sadness in her eyes and smiled just slightly. "He'll come home, Meri. He just needs to find that out for himself." Matt says softly.

"Thanks buddy. You've always been the smartest of the bunch." Meredith smiled. "What do you say, I go get Katie, and let you two have some alone time, together?" Meredith asked with a sigh as she wiped her tears on her sleeve.

"Sounds like a plan to me!" Matt exclaimed, sending Meredith a reassuring smile.

--------------------

Meredith smiled down at Matthew and put her hand on his cheek for a moment before turning around and walking out of his room. She turned and closed the door lightly and as she turned around, she almost ran into Derek, who was looking at a chart as he walked towards the room.

"Oh! Sorry!" He says with a smile as he purposefully brushes her arm with his.

Meredith turns to face him and gives him a playful glare. "I thought I told you to stay." Says as she tries not to grin.

"I stayed." He smiles as he leans against the wall, a small smile on his lips.

"How long?" She asks, still trying to remain serious.

"Until you turned the corner with Mark." He replies. "Meredith?" He says softly.

"What?" She asks, her eyes softening.

"I'm sorry." He says softly, reaching out to touch her face. "You've been crying." He says, looking at her swollen eyes.

She lets him touch her face and she leans her face against his hand. "Bring back my snuggle bug." She says, tears threatening to fall, her bottom lip trembling as she steps forward into his embrace as he hugs her close, letting her cry into his shoulder as he gently runs his fingers through her hair.

--------------------

2pm- North Dakota-

"I still can't believe you did that to my mother!" Jacks laughs, breaking the friendly silence.

"I can!" Sam laughs. "Wow, she sounded upset. Doesn't she know where you are?" Sam asked, looking at Jackson.

"No." Jack said sternly. The smile that was on his face, disappeared.

"Fine. I won't ask again." She says seriously. "Sorry."

"It's fine." Jack replies.

"I won't ask again… if…."

"If what? Sorry, I'm not in the business of brokering deals, especially from people that bum rides off unsuspecting travelers. For all I know, you have a sawed off shotgun in that backpack of yours!" Jack says with a small nervous laugh.

"It's a machete." Sam says seriously.

"What?"

"In my bag, why would I carry around a shotgun in my backpack? I would have to carry around ammo. You see, a machete is much easier to carry around." Sam says, glancing out the window.

"WHAT?" Jack says, looking over at her serious face.

Suddenly, she bursts out into a gale of laughter. "I can't believe you believed me! HAHAHA!!!" She laughs loudly.

Jack laughs nervously, eyes her bag and laughs a full, real laugh. They laugh for several minutes and then settle into a comfortable silence.

After a few minutes, Sam looks at Jack. "Seriously though, wanna rob a bank?"

Jack looks at her quickly with a surprised look, to which they both immediately began to laugh.

"Almost had you!" She laughs loudly as she reaches her arm up and begins to rub the back of his neck as he drives.

"You so did not!" Jack laughs back as he leans into her hand and continues to laugh.

--------------------

5pm- SGH-

"And Charlotte went to the house to pick up a couple of things for me. You're going to be really surprised when you see what I told her to bring." Katie giggles as she holds Matt's hand.

He smiles over at her and his eyes light up when he sees the door opening. "We…have… guests." He whispers in his raspy voice as he smiles when he sees Meredith walking into the room, followed by Derek.

"Hey." Katie says as she turns her head and smiles at her parents.

"Hey guys. We have some news about your options for surgery, and we want you to think about them very carefully, ok?" Meredith started. Katie nodded and held out her hand for her mother's.

"There is the first surgery that I told you about. We would try to stop the swelling and fluid build up around your spinal cord, by placing a metal rod in your back, we would be able to stabilize your spine and allow for what can heal, to heal. The problem with this surgery, as you know, is that… well, you're going to have a rod in your back. Not so fun." Derek says. Meredith gives him a playful glare. "Ok, ok." He says when Katie and Matt laugh a little. "There's another surgery. It is far more tricky than the first and it has only been successful in three particular incidences. In cases that it has not been successful, the patient has either been left off worse than they had started, or die." Derek said solemnly. Katie's face drops and she suddenly looks very sad.

"But… luckily for you, we found someone that will do it. I've spoken to Dr. Lockhart, and…"

"Dr. …Aurora… Lockhart?" Matthew asks quickly.

"Aunt Rory?" Katie says excitedly. "Wait, how do you know her?" She asks Matthew.

"I … have… seen her … lecture in… Paris." Matthew finishes. "She's… brilliant." Matthew says.

"Well, I spoke to her and sent her your charts and test results, and she thinks that you would be a perfect candidate for the surgery, right Derek?" Meredith says, looking over at Derek, who appears to be daydreaming.

"Huh? Oh yeah, she says you'd be a perfect candidate for the surgery. She will be here in a couple of days to do a thorough exam and then schedule the surgery accordingly." Derek says quickly.

"What were you thinking of? You were really gone there for a minute." Meredith says as she pats him on the back.

"I was just thinking about the first time I met Aurora. Wow, that was a long time ago." Derek whispers.

-----------------------

_The scotch was probably the reason Derek Shepherd made his way there, after a long, hard day. After shaking many executive hands, he was ready to pass out in his hotel room, but it was just one of those nights when he needed a drink, and needed it badly._

_From outside, the pub looked friendly enough and stepping in, the laughter, old-fashioned smell of smoke and the alcohol had quickly charmed him. Much to Derek's relief, the barman spoke English, and after receiving a glass of his finest single malt, he sat down on a barstool further down the row. He put his glass against his temple, in a vain attempt to cure his throbbing headache. He hadn't operated, or even done anything strenuous, yet he felt wiped out. Exhausted._

_Travelling had occupied his time, and many days he slept soundly in whatever hotel he was staying at. But he could hardly remember a day when his thoughts hadn't been occupied by Meredith Grey. Some days, she shimmered faintly at the corner of his mind, and others she was so clear he could almost see her in front of him. Sighing heavily, he drank some of his scotch. _

_To find himself, he had given up on a great many things, his job, his friends...Meredith...Not to mention lavender. He didn't regret his decision to go away, but just smelling that scent was pure agony. He must have looked so miserable, he caught the barman's attention._

_"What causes the sorrow in your heart monsieur? Is it your work, or perhaps une femme fatal?" he asked him, smiling._

_Derek was about to mutter a reply, but someone beat him to it._

_"Successful-looking business men always have the weight of the world on their shoulders, didn't you know that Luc? I find it hard to believe that a woman would tip the scales." a voice said behind him._

_The voice was musical, and laced with irony. Even though he wasn't in a talkative mood, Derek's curiosity made him turn around. A young woman sat down on the second stool away from him. The barman, Luc, abandoned drying his glasses and turned towards her with a wide smile._

_"You are too young to be here! Come back when your hair is grey!"_

_The woman laughed and settled more comfortably in the chair. Derek noticed that she was very attractive, with dark-gold hair that framed her face. She was much younger that he had first thought, but nothing in her manner gave it away. Radiating confidence, not arrogance, but confidence she gave Derek a nod, and then looked around the bar. Her emerald eyes were full of satirical laughter, but also intelligence. Even though she was petite, Derek felt no wish to cross her. That surprised him a great deal. But she obviously demanded respect, and probably received it._

_"The usual Aurora?" the barman asked, already reaching for a bottle._

_She nodded, and even though Luc didn't see it, he fetched a glass and set it down in front of her._

_"How many? Or how bad a day?"_

_The woman sighed theatrically._

_"Do you realize how many times I had to explain my article to Duval? The senile old bat couldn't tell a great idea from his mother's knitting! So trois, s'il vous plaît."_

_As Luc poured, Derek noticed what she was drinking. Damn, he thought and finished his scotch. Tequila. The woman downed two straight after each other, without so much as a wince. He gave her a smile as his mind drifted away to the past, and a very different bar..._

_The woman eyed him curiously for a long while without blinking. She definitely wasn't hitting on him, just looking. Her gaze was so direct that Derek felt even more awkward. It was almost like she knew what he was thinking._

_"Luc," she said, moving her head, but not her eyes, "perhaps the American gentleman would like another drink? You look like you need it!"_

_Derek laughed and rubbed his face with the pal of his hand and gratefully accepted the scotch that was passed to him. The woman raised her own glass._

_"Skål!" she said and downed the third. Derek was quite impressed._

_"I know a woman who drinks tequila just like you, like there's no tomorrow." he said thoughtfully and put his glass to his lips._

_She smiled appreciatively._

_"Is there any other way?"_

_But as she said that, she grew more serious, and absent-mindedly played with her serviette._

_As he knew he would, Derek remembered all the times he'd seen Meredith with her trusty tequila at hand. When he met her for the first time, at her party, when-_

_"I know someone like that too."_

_The woman's voice interrupted his thoughts. She leaned back a bit, and Derek became more interested. He could smell his way to a good story, and this woman, like himself, seemed to have a great deal of them._

_"She's the one who introduced tequila to me. You should see her, she's even worse that I am! You'd think she was drinking water..."_

_Derek nodded, and sipped his scotch again, more greedily, and out his hand in his inner pocket, feeling the edges of something square. He frowned and pulled it out. It was a brightly coloured postcard of the Eiffel tower, and his face lit up._

_"What's that?" the young woman inquired and Derek hastily put it aside._

_"Um..nothing. Please tell me about your friend, she sounds interesting." he replied quickly, having no desire to explain about his complicated love-life._

_She raised her eyebrow, but said nothing about it._

_"Well...what's there to say? She's a strong woman, hardworking and loyal, but sometimes I wonder if life hasn't been a little too cruel to her..."_

_She ran her hands through her hair and sighed._

_"One thing's for sure, she won't be drinking tequila like she used to!"_

_"Why?" Derek had to admit he was becoming interested._

_The woman's face darkened and her eyes blazed._

_"She fell in love. With a married man! And that bastard got her pregnant..." she muttered._

_"Seriously?"_

_"Mhm...and he left. He left her alone to raise her child. Bastard." she said again, and signalled for another tequila._

_Derek looked up._

_"He left her alone to raise their kid? That sounds like quite a jackass."_

_She snorted, but gave Luc the thumbs up as he presented her with a glass._

_"You have no idea. I'm not sure if he knew about the baby...but it doesn't matter. That filthy piece of worthless vermin left her to go on some god damn soul-searching tour! That's the worst part. She really did love him, and he left. He had a wife that he didn't even tell her about! Then he sleeps with her, makes love to her, and the next day-" she snapped her fingers, "-gone. Vanished. She manages, she has friends, but the child is without a father, and she is without the love of her life. Bastard!"_

_She downed her fourth shot. Derek did the same and scratched his beard thoughtfully._

_"Sounds complicated. But I feel sorry for your friend though...how do you know her?"_

_The woman put her elbows on the bar, and leaned against them, a furtive look in her eyes._

_"At college...I only spent a term and a half there, but we found each other the first week and have known each other ever since. She is the sort of friend that even though you've been apart, when you meet, it's like nothing has changed...and we talk to each other, she sends me pictures of the baby..."_

_Her face lit up, and was such a pure happiness that Derek found himself smiling too._

_"She has the most beautiful little girl...blue eyes and brown curls...adorable. And even though the pregnancy was hard...somehow, I don't think she would have managed without her little girl. They support each other, you know?"_

_The young woman shook herself and sat up straight again. She turned to Derek and gave him a sly smile._

_"What is wrong with me? I'm getting sentimental with a complete stranger, American no less!" she laughed, and gave him an intent look, "So it is only fair that you return the gesture. You could start by telling me what's so special about that postcard you're failing so miserably to hide."_

_Derek laughed nervously, caught off guard. She had now turned completely towards him, and gave him a challenging look. Finally he shrugged and decided to, for once, ignore his impulses and throw caution to the wind. He pulled out the postcard with far more affection than one would usually show for an ordinary postcard. The woman's, Aurora's, interest was certainly piqued, and it was as if he was showing her his most prized possession._

_Derek slid it across the bar, but the woman gave him a questioning look. Only when he had nodded did she pick it up. Her eye-movement across the postcard was curious, she completely ignored some bits, and stared at others. Derek felt a little uncomfortable at the sigh of the many emotions that flew across her face, too many to count, too fleeting to recognize. Had he really done the right thing in showing it to her?_

_"Do you love her?"_

_"What?"_

_She gave him a surprisingly cold glare._

_"I said, do you love her?"_

_Derek frowned, he was extremely confused, by the question and the sudden change of atmosphere._

_"You mean the woman I'm writing to? Meredith?"_

_She turned her head to look at the cheerful postcard, that seemed so out of place. Derek was getting a headache. _

_"No, I meant Luc, you looked like you were flirting-of course the woman you're writing to!" she snapped and gave him a filthy look._

_Derek was offended, and quite angry. A second ago they were joking and now she was furious with him! He'd heard people in France were temperamental, but this was something else._

_"Look, I don't know how-"_

_"Yes, or no?" _

_Crumbling before her piercing glare, his shoulders relaxed and Derek sighed heavily, casting a longing look at his empty glass._

_"Yes."_

_The woman nodded once, and turned her head away from him. When she spoke, her voice was muffled._

_"And this Meredith, does she love you?"_

_Derek covered his face with his hand. That was the very question he had been asking himself for months. Did Meredith love him? Should she love him? Could she love him? And would she ever want to see him again?_

_"I hope so." he said quietly._

_When she turned back towards him, he was surprised to see the sadness in her eyes, the pain. Slowly, she slide the postcard back to him._

_"Then how come six sentences, once a month is all she gets?"_

_Derek felt like someone had hit him with a sledgehammer. Those few words were enough to make him dizzy and his hand gripped the edge of the bar, steadying him. For months he had contemplated going back, but it had stayed a thought, a dream, a wish. Never before had the ache been so powerful._

_"I...I don't know..." he said hoarsely. _

_"You're a coward." she said with such loathing he didn't know how to respond._

_He bit his lip forcefully and clenched his fists in frustration._

_"Look! You don't know-"_

_"I know enough! Are you afraid she won't take you back?"_

_Again, the breath was knocked out of him. But only because he knew the answer, he knew it all too well._

_"Yes. Terrified." he replied truthfully, not sure why he was telling a stranger this._

_She slid off the stool, and stood before him, quivering with pent up anger. Derek didn't move. It was probably safest that way. The young woman leaned towards him._

_"Then you should get your pathetic behind on a plane and find out."_

_With that she turned and started walking away._

_Derek felt numb, but somehow throbbing as well. Had he really just set foot in here twenty minutes ago? And should he take her advice?_

_As the woman started to make her way through the crowd, she suddenly stopped. Turning around, she looked at him from across the smoky bar, a small smile playing on her lips._

_"But if you really want to win her back Dr Shepherd...lose the beard!" she said, laughing._

--------------------

"So you met her in Paris and didn't know who she was?" Katie asks. "I don't think you've ever told me that story before." Katie smiles.

"Yep. And she kicked my butt all the way back home, where I had a family waiting for me, and I didn't even know it." Derek says softly as he pulls Meredith into his lap.

"So she's thinks she can do the surgery successfully?" Katie asked, getting her hopes up.

"She 'knows' that she can do the surgery successfully. She's the only neurosurgeon that has done it successfully. She's agreed to do it, but your mom and I have to hold our end of the bargain." Derek said with a sly grin.

"And what is that?" Meredith laughed, turning her head to look at him.

He lightly pushes her off his lap, she stands up and he starts for the door. "She said that you would know what she means." Derek laughs as she laughs, turns around and walks out the door.

--------------------

May 11, 2032- 9:00pm- Minnesota-

"I can't believe this place has only one room left!" Jack says angrily as he drags his suitcase up the stairs to the room that the hotel staff person had directed him too.

"Relax, geez, it's the only place around, what did you want to do, keep driving? You won't let me drive your car, and you look like you're going to fall asleep, and we both know how well that turned out last night, don't we?" Sam said, frustrated with Jack's sudden attitude change.

"Shut up." Jack said angrily as he swung the door open to the room. He takes a step into the room and switches on the light. "CRAP!" He yells out as he looks into the room, where all he sees is one queen size bed, a small desk and a table with a television on it. He walks over to the bed and picks up a pillow, Sam is right behind him. He tosses the pillow on the ground, drops his suitcase and lays down on the bed. Motioning to the ground, he looks up at her and grins. "Make yourself comfortable, roomie."

Sam looks at him, looks at the ground and back up at him again. "I am absolutely NOT sleeping on the floor in this disgusting hotel" Sam says with a scowl.

"Listen, freeloader. I pay for the gas, I pay for the room, and…"

"I pay for the chiropractor? Give me a break. There's enough room on that bed for two people, move over!" She says angrily as she pushes on him.

"Cut it out, you sleep on the floor." Jack says as he pushes her hands off of him.

"Well I'm not going to sleep yet, so I'm just going to lay on the bed for now, ok?" Sam asks, with a sly grin.

"Go sit on the chair, hobo girl. Its my bed!" Jack argues.

"Not very gentlemanly JACKSON! NO wonder you don't have a GIRLFRIEND!" she spits out angrily. Suddenly his face falls at her comment and all fight that was in him is visibly drained from his body. He rolls over in the bed and faces the wall, refusing to look at her. She immediately notices his change in attitude once again. "Hey…" She says softly, trying to get his attention. She kneels lightly on the bed and moves over to him slowly. "Hey…I'm sorry… I don't have any right to say anything like that to you, I don't even know you. I'm sorry." Sam say softly, putting her hands on his arm.

Suddenly, Jackson brushes her hands off of him and stands up. He walks over to his suitcase and unzips it. He pulls out two bottles of tequila and walks back to the other side of the bed. He sets one of the bottles on the bed, opens the other and takes a long drink from it. He picks up the other bottle and tosses it to Sam, who catches it, her eyes wide with curiosity. "Here, drink up. It'll help you sleep." He says as he takes another swig straight from the bottle, and sits down on the bed, leaning his back against the headboard, staring straight ahead.

Sam sits next to him with her back on the headboard, the bottle of tequila in her hand as she stares straight ahead also.  
"Aren't you going to drink it? It makes all of the pain go away." Jack says softly. "It's magic"

"I don't have any pain." Sam says, confused. She looks over at Jack and he's staring at her. His blue eyes are so full of pain, it breaks her heart. "You do." She said as she put the bottle down on the bedside table. She moved closer to him and put her head on his shoulder. He put his arm around her shoulder as if by reflex as she leaned her head on his chest. He took a swig of the drink and swallowed it down easily, as he continued to stare at the wall.

Sam reached up and grabbed the bottle from his hand and took a long fast drink from the bottle. She handed the bottle back to him and glanced up at him with a smile. "Hey, you're a professional." He says as he looks down at her face.

"My mom was an alcoholic." Sam says sadly.

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"I'm kidding." She says seriously.

"No kidding?" Jack says with a little laugh as he takes another drink from the bottle. Sam giggles and takes the bottle from his hand again, taking another long drink from it.

--------------------

About an hour later, the two bottles of tequila sit, empty on the bedside table. Jackson lay sprawled out on the bed, with Sam nestled comfortably against his chest as they watch the television.

"Sammy, you're a good friend. I don't know you, but you're great." Jack says out of no where.

"Thanks, Jackson…" She giggles for a second as she rolls away from him and lays next to him. "You're fun too. You know what?"

"Hmm…"

"I was thinking… where'd your parents come up with that name from? Huh? Jackson. Sounds so… weird." Sam stumbles as she speaks, giggling at his name.

"Shh…." He says, swatting at her with a scowl on his face.

"No, really… Were your parents like… fans of the king of pop or something?" She giggles for a few seconds until she realizes that Jackson isn't laughing. He is laying with his arms crossed with a scowl on his face. "What'd I say wrong now?" She asks as she rolls to her side, trying to get him to look at her.

"Jackson is my father's dead brother." Jack says, kind of angrily. The two of them became very silent.

"Dead brother? That's weird. I'm sorry…" Sam slurred.

"No… its fine. My dad was a twin… his brother was underweight … he only lived long enough to be given a name, only one or two days." Jack explained.

"That's awful! I can't imagine losing a baby!" Sam slurred as she rolled over and gave Jack a hug. Jack hugged her back and they lay for a while in silence.

"My sister's having babies." Jack blurted out.

"Yeah? More than one?"

"Yep. She's having twins. Probably born by now." Jack said sadly.

"You seem awfully sad for being a new uncle. Why aren't you there celebrating? Holding the babies, pinching their little cheeks, counting their little toes?" Sam asked.

"Shhhh…. " He says softly.

"I get it… you say 'shh…' when you want me to shut up!" She says with a giggle.

"That's what it means, generally." Jackson says as he shifts a little.

Sam lays on her back and starts to roll towards the edge. She lays on her side facing the bedside table and picks up a penny off the bedside table and starts to play with it. She fiddles with it for a little while as she lets Jack sulk. "Hey, you never told me why you ran away from home." She says as she clumsily tries to spin the penny on the table.

Jackson was silent for a few seconds as he contemplated her question. "I killed my sister's fiancé."

**thud**

"Hey, where'd you go?"

Sam was silent on the floor next to the bed.

"Sammy?" Jack whispered as he shifted on the bed. He moved onto his tummy and peeked over the side of the bed. "Samma llama ding dong?" He says as he looks over the side of the bed. Sam is lying on her back, with her hands covering her face. Jack can see her peeking out between her fingers. "Did I say something wrong?" Jack asks as he looks down at her. "Are you ok?"

Sam nods her head. "What did you just say before… did you say you killed someone?" She asks, her voiced muffled by her hands.

Jack rolls back on the bed and puts his head on his pillow. He closes his eyes "Yeah, I killed my soon to be brother in law." He mumbles to himself. "The father of my sister's children." He says sadly.

Sam peeks over the edge of the bed. "How'd you do it?" She says creepily.

Jack looks over at her and sees her head sticking up from the side of the bed, just enough so that he can see the top of her head and her eyes. He starts to laugh at the way she asked her question, which only succeeds in making her feel more uneasy. "Stop laughing! It was a reasonable question. How'd you off him?" Sam asks in an eerie voice.

Still laughing, Jack reaches his hand out to her. "Come back up here. I didn't do it on purpose. We were mountain climbing." He says softly as she takes his hand and he pulls her up onto the bed so that she has her head on his chest. "My sister and my girlfriend told me not to take him, because he was inexperienced. We didn't listen and we went. He fell, and I got the crap kicked out of me by my father and my girlfriend dumped me."

"All in the same day?"

"Yep."

"Wow…"

"Yep." Jack responded.

"Hey."

"What?"

"Did you kill your father too?" Sam asked, looking up at him.

He lifted his head up off the pillow and looked down at her with a puzzled expression. "What?"

"Your father, did you kill him too? You said when we first met that he was dead." Sam says quietly.

"No. I didn't kill my father." Jack said softly. "He did that all by himself." He whispered.

"Hey… I gotta do something." Jack said suddenly as he rolled away from Sam and stumbled to his feet.

"What? Where are you goin?" Sam asked as she pulls the blanket up on herself and snuggles into the pillow.

"I have to call Charlotte. I have to." He says softly as he stumbles out to the car to get his phone. He climbs into the back seat and grabs the phone and drunkenly makes his way back up the stairs to the room. He stumbles into the room loudly and Sam is curled up in the blankets like a little kitten, her eyes half closed as she watches the television.

Jack stands there for a minute as he looks down at her and smiles slightly as he takes his phone into the bathroom with him. He sits down in the bathtub and he clumsily finds Charlotte's number in the directory.

--------------------


	55. Chapter 55

Chapter 55-

Charlotte sits in the hospital room playing a game of cards with Katie when she hears her cell phone ringing in her purse. She gets up and walks to her phone, she looks at the name on the screen and looks up at Katie.

"Who is it?" Katie asks.

Charlotte holds up her finger as if to tell Katie to hold on a second. She presses the answer button. "Where the HELL are you?" Charlotte says angrily into the phone. Katie gives her a knowing glance.

"So, you don't want to talk to me?" Jack says sadly into the receiver.

"Where are you?" Charlotte asks again.

"Hmm… hang on… Sam! Where are we?" Jackson calls out. He hears a muffled reply and puts his lips back to the receiver. "We're in Minnesota." Jackson slurs.

"Minnesota? What the hell are you doing in Minnesota?" Charlotte says.

"Minnesota?" Katie says from her bed.

"OH! Is that Katie! Tell her that I miss her and that I'm sorry that I killed Matt. I didn't mean to kill Matt." He says as he starts to cry.

"Jackson, are you drunk?" Charlotte asked, her voice soft.

"We were drinking, yeah." Jack says into the phone. "Hang on… Hey, what are you doing?"

"I'm going pee!" Sam says as she closes the shower curtain on Jack. Don't peek."

"Jack? Jack?" Charlotte says into the receiver. "JACKSON!" Charlotte yells getting his attention.

"Huh?" He says into the phone.

"Who else is there?" She says suspiciously.

"Oh, that's my friend Sam. Say hi Sam!" Jack says, poking the phone out of the bathtub.

"Hi" Sam giggles.

Jack puts the phone back up to his ear and laughs. "She's funny, isn't she? Charlotte, I love you." Jack says softly into the phone.

::click::

"Charlotte?" Jack says again. "Charlotte?" He whimpers before he passes out in the bathtub, dropping his phone into the cold bathtub beside him.

--------------------

Sam finishes up at the toilet and washes her hands. It has been several minutes since she has heard anything from Jack in the bathtub and she starts to get worried. She's starting to sober up, but she knows that Jackson had way more to drink than she did. She slowly pulls back the shower curtain and looks down at her driving companion. He was lying on his back, his eyes closed, sleeping soundly. She takes in the sight in front of her from the top of his messy hair to his black socks on his feet and she listens to the little sleep sounds that he is making.

_**When you try your best but you don't succeed  
When you get what you want but not what you need  
When you feel so tired but you can't sleep  
Stuck in reverse**_

She sits on the side of the bathtub and lightly runs her fingers through his messy hair. She carefully observes the scratches on his nose, the bruise on his cheek, the marks left by a person who was obviously much larger than he was. She runs her fingers down his shirt sleeve and her hand rests on his left hand, where a haphazard bandage was wrapped around his hand. She silently wonders what could have left such an obviously sweet person so bruised and cut up.

_**When the tears come streaming down your face  
When you lose something you can't replace  
When you love someone but it goes to waste  
could it be worse?**_

"Hey bubba." Sam says softly as she reaches up and touches his face.

His eyelids slowly open and he looks into her eyes. "Bubbles." He mumbles and gives a little smile.

"Bubbles?" She asks a look of amusement crosses her face.

"Mm…. it's what my sister used to call me." He mumbles, his eyes close back again.

"That's cute." She giggles. "Ok, Bubbles. You need to help me to get you out of here." She whispers.

"No, I'm stupid. Let me stay here." He grumbles.

"You're not stupid, let's go." She says as she holds her hand out to him. "Take my hand, trust me. I won't let go." She said softly.

Jack takes her hand and lifts himself up out of the bathtub. He picks up his phone and looks at it, then looks back at Sam. "I really fucked up." He said sadly.

_**Lights will guide you home  
and ignite your bones  
And I will try to fix you**_

"Don't say that, lets get you to bed, boy." She says softly as she takes his hand and leads him out to the bed. She sits him down on the bed and takes his hand in hers and looks at the bandage. "What happened here?" She asks as she indicates the bandage.

"I cut myself."

"How?"

"Saving Matthew. A lot of good it did him." Jackson said as he swatted her hand away.

"Stop that, I have a first aid kit in my bag, stay there." Sam said as she walked over to her bag and pulled out a small first aid kit. She walked over to him and set it on the bed and opened it up. She pulled out a small pair of scissors and cut the bandage from his hand and looked at the long deep cut from his knife. "Look at that, its getting infected." She said as she very gently put iodine on it and cleaned the wound with a cloth. She then carefully began to wrap his hand in gauze.

"Your touch is soft." Jack whispered as he watched her roll the gauze around his hand.

"Thank you." She whispered back as she taped the gauze to his hand. "There, all done. Much better." She smiled.

He smiled a lazy grin at her. "Aren't you going to kiss it, to make it all better?" He asked softly.

"Sure." She said as she lifted his hand to her lips and gave it a soft kiss. Their eyes met for a second and they sat, staring at one another for several moments.

"My mama used to always kiss my cuts and bruises." Jackson whimpered as he lay back on the bed. "She can't fix this one."

"What one?"

"My heart is broken." Jack says softly. "The only girl that I have ever loved, hates me. My father hates me. I want to go home but I can't. I can never go back." Jackson says as he begins to cry. Sam crawls onto the bed and sits behind him. He rolls to the side and places his head in her lap as he continues to cry. She runs her fingers through his hair to soothe his tears, leaning forward, whispering words of encouragement to this stranger that she feels like she has known forever.

_**High up above or down below  
when you're too in love to let it go  
If you never try you'll never know  
Just what you're worth**_

His crying eventually stops, and he just lies there with his head in her lap, a million thoughts running through his head. "Do you think she hates me?"

"Charlotte?"

"Yeah, do you think she'll hate me?"

"Why do you use that word so much?"

"Why do you always answer a question with a question?"

"Why do you ask so many questions?"

"You're an smart ass."

"But you love me."

"Sure, but you never answered my questions."

"I didn't?"

**  
**_**Lights will guide you home  
and ignite your bones  
And I will try to fix you**_

They sit for several minutes, she stops moving her fingers through his hair, because she thinks he's sleeping. She settles back for a moment and watches him lay there peacefully.

"Sam?" He whispers.

"Yeah?"

"Nothing, I just wanted to see if you're sleeping yet." He whispered.

"I'm not going anywhere." She says softly as she begins to stroke his hair again.

_  
__**Tears stream down your face  
When you lose something you cannot replace  
Tears stream down your face**_

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"Still checking."

"Trust me." She whispers as she bends down and kisses his hair. "Now go to sleep."

"Ok."

_**Lights will guide you home  
And ignite your bones  
And I will try to fix you**_

--------------------

"Crap!" Charlotte exclaimed as she tried to dial furiously on her cell phone.

"What happened?" Katie asks from her bed, at her frantic friend. "Where is he?"

"Crap, crap!" Charlotte said angrily. "Good for nothing piece of crap!" She yells angrily.

"What? Char, what happened?"

"My goddamned phone disconnected! The stupid battery is dead! Crap crap!"

"Where is he?"

"He said he's in Minnesota. Apparently, he's drunk in a bathroom with some girl named Sam. I don't know anyone named Sam, I'm pretty sure he doesn't know anyone named Sam, and now he thinks I goddamned hung up on him! Shit shit shit!" Charlotte yelled. "I am using all of the strength I have not to throw this goddamned piece of crap phone against the wall!" She says angrily.

"He'll call back. Just let him sober up." Katie said.

"Katie, he thinks he killed Matt!"

"Crap."

--------------------

"_Hey, buddy, how are you feeling?" Derek asks as he watches his now six year old son sit in his bedroom playing with his new toys._

_"Great Daddy! Did you see all the neat toys I got for my birthday! I got a rocket ship, and some little cars, and Papa got me a fishing pole, and Nana got me socks, but that's ok, socks are cool too. The little boy beamed as he zoomed the little toy car around the little track that his mother had bought him. Thanks for the best birthday ever, daddy! Jacks exclaimed as he stood up and ran to his father, throwing his arms around his leg. _

Derek looked down at his little boy, who has his eyes closed as he hugs his leg, his dirty blonde hair unkempt from the business of the day, and his cheeks bright with sleepiness. Derek scoops him up into his arms and he wraps his little arms around his father's neck, his eyes bright blue as they twinkle with happiness. 

_"Hey,, do you remember what daddy got you for your birthday, Jackson? Derek inquires as hugs him back, rocking him back and forth, just slightly. Jack leaned back and looked Derek in the eyes, a curious look on his face. _

"Nope." He giggles as he kisses Derek's cheek.

_"Do you want to go get your present?" Derek asks, tickling his little tummy._

_"Can mommy come see it?" Jack asked._

_"Nope, it's a secret present for just us boys to go see, are you ready?"_

_"Yes!" Jack said excitedly as he covered his mouth._

_"Why are you doing that?" Derek asks with a laugh._

_"Mits ma msecret, mdaddy!" He mumbles from behind his hand as Derek laughs as he carries his son downstairs. When he gets to the bottom of the stairs, he sets Jackson down on the floor and puts his fingers to his lips to indicate to be quiet. With a huge grin on both of their faces, they begin to tiptoe across the room. Meredith is in the room picking up from the birthday party and smiles at the boys pretending they're sneaking downstairs. She knows what Derek is up to, so she pretends to not see them tiptoeing with silly grins on their faces through the living room to the basement door. _

Derek lifts Jacks into his arm and opens the basement door. "Close your eyes. No peeking." Derek says as he turns on the basement light. Jacks covers his eyes and giggles as Derek looks over at Meredith watching them and winks at her, as he turns around and carries Jacks downstairs into the basement, closing the door behind them. _. _

Derek carried Jacks down the basement steps and brought him around the corner to a little room that had been used for mostly crafts and other messy things for the kids to do. "Ok, you can open your eyes." Derek said, excitedly.

_Jackson opened his eyes and looked around the room. "Wow! Daddy! This is so cool!" He said looking around at the huge train set that had been set up around the room, complete with working lights and a little whistle. _

"_This is only part of your present. I'm about to give you the most important gift" Derek said with a laugh. _

"Yeah?" Jack said as Derek sat down in the wooden chair that was in the room and positioning Jackson on his lap. Derek pulled out a medium sized box, wrapped in a pretty blue wrapping, with little blue bow on the top. "What's this?" He asks excitedly, his bright blue eyes sparkling.

"Open it up, silly!" Derek said with a laugh as he pulled the bow off the top of the gift and stuck it to Jack's head, making him laugh.

_Jackson feverishly began to tear the wrapping from the gift as Derek held it so that it wouldn't fall off the little boy's lap. His eyes widened when he saw the picture on the box and his smile only became wider. "It's a pretty sailboat, daddy!" Jack exclaimed._

_"That's called a Topsail Schooner. See what this is, its what's called a model" Derek explained. "Inside the box are all the little pieces of the boat, and its up to you to put it all together, and to paint it and to make it look really sharp. Then you can put it up in your room!" Derek explained. _

"Can I put it in your room, daddy? In your office? Then you can look at it and then you'll like to see it all the times and think of me!" Jack asked as he looked at Derek with hopeful eyes.

_"Sure, you can put it in my office, if you want to. Do you want to start on it tomorrow? Daddy took the whole day off to let you work on it." Derek said as he watched the wonder in his son's eyes as he gently ran his finger over the picture of the boat on the box cover._

_"Will you help me with it?" Jack asked, looking up at Derek._

_"Sure, I'll help you with it." Derek said smiling._

_"Thanks daddy, I love you!" He says as he looks back down at the box._

_"I love you too, buddy." Derek said, hugging Jackson a little._

Derek woke up with a start. He was disoriented in the darkness of the room. He suddenly realized that he was in an on call room, sleeping. He looked around the room and realized that he was alone.

------------------------------------------------------

Jackson woke up with a start. He was disoriented in the darkness of the room. He suddenly realized that he was in the hotel room, his head nestled into the protective arms of a friend, and he realized that he was not alone.

------------------

6am-

"Jackson?"

"MMmmmssshhh…" Jack mumbles as he buries his head further into her lap.

"Jack, my leg is asleep, you have to get up." Sam says as she sits up, and runs her hand through his hair.

He looks up for a second an sees her smiling down at him, he rolls his head out of her lap, grins and pushes her down on the bed, moving so that they are face to face. "Good, your leg is asleep, the rest of your body should follow its example." He laughs as he closes his eyes.

"Get up!" She grumbles as she starts to push him towards the edge of the bed.

"Shh, it's too early…" Jack mumbles as he turns, rolling her back over, laying half on her.

Suddenly with all the strength she can muster, she pushes him hard. He rolls to the edge of the bed.

**thud**

"Hey Sam?" Jack mumbles from the floor.

"Yeah?" she giggles.

"I think its time to get up." He says with a laugh when he hears her laughter from on top of the bed.

6 AM- Meredith and Derek's house.

Charlotte steps out of the car and walks down the path towards her and Jack's spot. She sits on the rock for a while and looks out at the water. The wind playfully skims across the top of the water, making it ripple in a soothing pattern.

"Jackson Shepherd. I miss you. Why did you have to leave me here alone? You promised you'd never go without me." Charlotte said as she looked out at the water.

_"Charlotte, I'm running away!" ten year old Jackson says as Charlotte opens the door to the house and sits down on the porch step. _

"Jack, you run away every week." Charlotte said, a bored look on her face.

"So? This time its for real!" Jack exclaimed.

"Last time it was for real." Charlotte said, picking up a small stone from the step, throwing it into the grass.

"Well, aren't you coming with me? I can't go without you!" Jack said as he held out his hand to her.

"Duh!" She says with a smile as she takes his hand and walks with him down the street. 

"I know you've only been gone for two days, but I miss you. Where the hell are you?" Charlotte said to herself as she stood up and walked to the shore. She picked up another large rock and walked towards the pier. She kneeled down at the end of it and gently placed the rock inside the boat. She frowns as she watches the boat dip a little farther into the water. "I hope you haven't done anything stupid, Jack." She says with a tinge of anger as she stands up, and walks back down the path and out of the woods. She gets into her car, and heads back to the hospital.

-----------------------------

8AM- SGH-

Derek is walking out of Matthew's room after doing a short check up when he nearly bumps into Mark. "Hey, sorry." He says as he turns to walk away, still looking down at the chart.

"Derek." Mark says, trying to get his attention.

Derek turns around and looks over at Mark, acknowledging him. "Hmmm?" Derek mumbles.

"How is he? I… I mean… I know how his chart looks, and the outlook and chances for everything, but… he … he doesn't really talk to me. How is he feeling?" Mark asked as he tried to get Derek to look him in the eyes.

Derek looked up and looked him in the eyes. "He is sad, broken, lonely and bored out of his mind. He doesn't say it, but you can just tell. Are you telling me, that you can't look at him and just tell, Mark? Don't you know him at all?" Derek asked.

"Derek. Don't even talk to me about knowing my son. You don't even know where yours is." Mark snapped back.

"That's a goddamned cheap shot, and you know it. The whereabouts of my son and my relationship with him has nothing to do with Matthew and how he's feeling. If you want to know how Matt is feeling, talk to him. I have nothing more to say to you." Derek said as he turned and started to walk down the hall.

"When are you going to look for him, Derek? Or are you going to wait until they bring him home in a body bag? It'll be too late then!" Mark yelled down the hallway.

Derek stopped. He looked straight ahead and resisted the urge to run down the hallway and strangle Mark with his bare hands. He took a deep breath and continued walking down the hallway, in a frantic search for his wife.

Derek walked quickly to the elevator and waited for it to open. The doors opened and Meredith stepped out. She could tell by the way that Derek was standing there, that he was very angry and was trying to hold his composure.

"What happened?" she asked as she stepped out of the elevator and touched his face. "What happened, Derek?" She asked as she finally got him to look into her eyes, his eyes are filled with fire and hurt.

He suddenly grabbed her hand and pulled her close. "Mark has something that he wants to say to you." Derek said as he began to gently pull her down the hallway towards Matthew's room.

"Derek, what do you mean?" Meredith asked as she followed Derek down the hallway. He stormed into the room with Meredith's arm in his grasp.

"What the…" Mark says, standing up from his spot next to Matthew's bed as he watched the two of them walk in, Derek obviously angry.

"Mark. I want you to stand up right now, and I want you to tell Meredith what you just said to me in the hallway." Derek said, holding his wife's shoulders as stands behind her.

"Derek, what is this all about?" Meredith asks as she looks up at him.

"Mark has something he wants to say to you. Don't you Mark?" Derek said angrily as he pushed Meredith forward slightly.

"What? I didn't say anything." Mark mumbled.

Suddenly Derek carefully pushes Meredith aside as he pulls Mark out of his chair and slams him hard against the wall.

"DEREK!" Meredith exclaimed.

"NO Meredith. I'm serious. Mark has something that he wants to say to you. Tell her what you said to me MARK!" Derek yelled.

"Derek?" Matt mumbled from the bed.

"Matt, I think you should hear this too." Derek said from. "You can finally see what a goddamned sick FUCK your father is!"

"Derek!" Meredith exclaimed as she put her hand on his shoulder, trying her hardest to get him to calm down.

"SAY IT MARK!" Derek said, squeezing his arm against Mark's neck.

"OK… ok…." Mark gasped as Derek held him tightly. Suddenly Derek let go of Mark and stepped away from him. Mark grabbed his throat and began coughing, trying to catch his breath. "Meredith, I said something very wrong about Jackson, and I had no right to say that to Derek. I'm sorry."

"What did he say, Derek?" Meredith asked, looking over at Derek, a look of concern.

"Man, you have got to have some anger management." Mark coughs.

"He said that I am an ass for not going after Jacks, that I am waiting till he comes home in a body bag." Derek said, seething, his eyes angry and hurt.

"Mark!" Meredith said. "Why would you say such an awful thing!" She exclaimed.

"He provoked me!" Mark responded, pointing at Derek as if they were two children on a playground.

"Excuse… me… sick… person… here." Matthew said from his bed. Everyone suddenly turned their attention to Matthew. "Could you…all please… stop fighting? Jackson … is missing… and you guys…are acting… like a bunch of… goddamned…. children…This isn't Jack's fault...He told me… no… He told me that…. it was… too dangerous… he told me and…. It was my … fault. So…stop blaming… him… and look… for him… I need… him…. I need to tell him… thank you… for saving my… life. I wouldn't… be here if… didn't take care… of me the way… that he did….He made…. Sure that I … had a reason to… live, and you guys …. make me wish that… I was still… up on the…mountain freezing… my ass… off with… him…. So stop… fighting, or …. I will." Matthew gasped, his eyes sad and lonely as he looked up at the three of them. He closed his eyes and let a tear escape.

"Listen. You two, stop fighting. I have to go meet Izzie in the lobby for Katie's check up. If I hear anything, out of either one of you about anything negative, you will both be kicked out of this room. Don't you look at me like that Derek Shepherd. I can find another doctor for Matthew if I have to, so you stop it right now. Behave yourself and keep the boy company, for God's sake." Meredith grumbled as she walked angrily towards the door. She turns around quickly. "And if anything happens to that boy right there, if he gives up fighting, I'm holding BOTH of you responsible!" Meredith said as she stormed out of the room.

Derek glared at Mark and looked over at Matthew. "Matt, I'll be back later to check on you. I have some options that I'd like to discuss with you for before Aurora gets here for your surgery. I'll be back later. Mark, have a good day." Derek cringed as he said it, it sounded forced and still full of anger and contempt but he didn't care.

"Yeah. Have a good day." Mark growled as Derek turned around and walked out of the room.

--------------------------------

Meredith walks down to the lobby to wait for Izzie. She sits in one of the chairs and pulls out her cell phone. She glances out the window and then back at her phone. She jumps as it starts to vibrate in her hand. She looks at the screen, 'JACKSON' flashes across it. She quickly presses the button.

"Jacks?" She says quickly into the phone.

"Hello?" The sound of a girl's voice catches Meredith by surprise.

"Hello…" Meredith says, confused.

"Is this Meredith? Jackson's mom?" Sam inquired, quietly.

"Yes. Is he ok? Is this Sam?" Meredith asked, trying to be calm.

"Yeah, I'm Sam. Jackson is in the store getting us some sandwiches; he'd probably kill me if he knew I was calling you. I just wanted to call you to let you know, that he's alright. God, I sound like a kidnapper or something… We're in Minnesota right now. Driving towards Boston, but I just wanted you to know he is alright and that I'll do everything I can to get him home to you as soon as I can."

"Thank you, Sam." Meredith said, not really knowing what to tell the girl.

"He misses you a lot, if that is any consolation. He also is really sorry for killing his friend. Oh crap, I gotta go! I'll get him home soon!" Sam says quickly as she hangs up the phone when she sees Matthew coming out of the store.

"Sam? Sam…." Meredith says into the phone as she realizes that she had already hung up. "Crap. He thinks Matt is dead!" She says to herself. However, her heart felt a little lighter knowing that her son was being taken care of.


	56. Chapter 56

Chapter 56-

Mark awkwardly sat next to Matthew's bed. He was at a loss for words at the moment because of what had just happened. "Hey." Mark says softly as he reaches out for his son's hand.

"I…want… everyone to stop… fighting, dad." Matthew said sadly. "Mom… hates Katie, you… hate Derek… Derek… hates Jack… and poor Jack… hates himself. I can't take it." He whispers.

"I know. I'm sorry." Mark said softly. "I'm sorry if I haven't been that great of a dad to you, buddy. I don't feel like we talk much anymore." Mark said sadly.

"It's ok… dad… you're a great… dad…and mom… she's a great … mom. I have just… been going through… a lot of …things. I do love… you both." Matt said softly.

"I love you too, buddy. You have to get better soon, I don't want your kids to start walking before you do." Mark joked.

Matt laughed a little as he lay there. He coughed and looked over at his father. "Its… ok, dad… we'll teach one another…" He smiled. "Derek… takes good… care of me… and Meredith… brings Katie over… to see me. I wish… that… mom would… visit more." Matt said sadly.

"You know your mom, she hates to see you in pain. She misses you." Mark replied. "Matty, your voice is slurring a lot more than yesterday, are you sure you're doing alright?"

"I am… having… more problems… breathing… I … don't want to… worry Derek. It's just normal…" Matt said as he coughed.

"No, its not normal, Matthew, you need to tell us if something isn't feeling right." Mark said, beginning to panic.

"It's alright……" Matt replies as he starts to cough violently. His machines begin to show a rapid pulse and Matthew starts to hyperventilate.

Mark slams his hand down on the Emergency call button and tries to calm Matthew. "Matt, you have to relax, Matthew, try to calm your breathing, Matt." Mark panics as the room fills with nurses, attempting to stabilize him.

Meredith watches as Izzie gets out of her car in the rain, opening her umbrella, she opens the back door. Lilybeth jumps out of the back seat, right into a puddle. Meredith laughs to herself as she sees Izzie grab her hand and drag her towards the door, mumbling and yelling at her the whole way as Lilybeth just laughs at her. Izzie pulls her into the hospital out of the rain and tries to close her umbrella. Lilybeth automatically sees Meredith and runs towards her.

"AUNT MERI!" She squeals as her wet shoes squeak across the hospital floor. She jumps and gives Meredith a big hug. "I haven't seen you in a long time! I missed you!" Lilybeth exclaimed.

"I missed you too, sweetie." Meredith said as she watched a haggard Izzie come towards her. "Hey Iz, thanks for coming over."

"It's no problem. I hope you don't mind that I brought Lilybreath with me. The sitter cancelled and she hates daycare. I love school!" Izzie exclaims.

"School sucks!" Lilybeth exclaimed.

"Lily!" Izzie says, her face reddening in embarassment.

"Don't worry about it Iz. There are a lot of other words she could say." Meredith said, smiling down at Lilybeth. "I'm sure that Katie would love to see her." Meredith replied as she held Lilybeth's hand and the three of them walked to the elevator and got on.

"Is she real big, Aunt Meri?" Lilybeth asked.

"Yep. Real big, soon you'll have two little babies to play with." Meredith said as they waited to get to the Maternity floor.

"Two? Wow! Can I name them?" Lilybeth exclaimed.

"They already have names, silly. The little girl is Ani Piper, and the little boy is Michael Lucas Vincent. Aren't they nice names?" Meredith said with a smile.

"They're beautiful names! I am so excited!" Lilybeth said with a big grin.

"Michael Lucas Vincent? Meredith, she caved?" Izzie asks with a smile.

"Its not like he noticed." Meredith laughed. "He keeps complaining that they're naming him Michael. I don't think he'll ever get it." Meredith says as they share a laugh. The elevator doors open and the three of them step off onto the maternity floor.

"Can we PLEASE put the top down!" Sam begged as they drove down the highway.

"No, we're going too fast, besides, it could rain." Jack said as they drove down the interstate.

"It's not going to rain! The sun is out!"

"We don't want to get a sunburn."

"You're a wimp!"

"Excuse me?" Jack said, feigning an insulted look.

"Fine. If you won't put the top down, then I'm going to take my top off."

"You will not!" Jack said, glancing over at her.

"You think I wont, but I will. Can we put the top down on the car?" She asked again, a devilish grin crosses her face.

"No." He says, glancing over at her. She turns to face him and starts to take her shirt off.

"NO! PUT IT BACK ON!" Jack squeals in laughter as he covers his eyes, while driving, peeking out between his fingers.

"Oh, come on! Will you put the top down on the car?" She laughs.

"No." He laughs, still covering his face with his hand.

"Fine! I'll take my bra off." She says as she sits forward.

"FINE FINE! We can put the top down on the car!" He exclaims.

She stops fiddling with her bra and sits back in the car seat. She puts her feet up on the dashboard.

"Aren't you going to put your shirt on?" Jack asks.

"No."

"Why not?"

"Because you're not very nice." She giggles.

"Shut up." Jack said with a laugh.

"Prude."

"Big mouth."

Sam leans over and puts her lips against Jack's ear, whispering in a breathy voice, she says. "Come on. You know you want to look."

"Seriously. Put your shirt back on." Jack responds

"No." She laughs.

"Fine, but I can't be held responsible if I do something that I may or may not regret." Jack said with a laugh.

"I dare you."

"Don't tempt me."

Her only response was a giggle, as she threw her t-shirt into the back seat.

Izzie, Meredith and Lilybeth walked down the hallway towards Katie's room. Meredith opened the door and moved aside for Izzie and Lilybeth to come in.

"Aunt Katie!" Lilybeth exclaimed as she ran into the room.

"Lily!" Izzie scolded. "Keep it down!"

Katie lifted the little girl onto her bed and gave her a hug. "No, its fine. I can use as much noise near me as possible. I'm tired of hearing the air conditioner." She smiled as Lilybeth giggled.

"Wow! Look at you Katie! YOU'RE HUGE!" Lilybeth exclaimed.

"Lily! We don't call pregnant women huge!" Izzie said as she went to grab her daughter off the bed.

Katie and Meredith laugh at the scene as Lilybeth holds tightly to Katie. "NO! I'm visiting Aunt Katie. Go play with Aunt Mer!" She exclaims as she kicks her feet.

"GRR!!!" Izzie growls in frustration as she lets go of Lilybeth. "Fine, stay there… visit for a couple of minutes, but you're going to get it when we get home!" Izzie warned.

Lilybeth just giggled and looked at Katie. "Can I touch your belly?" she asks as she sits up on the bed, holding her hand over Katie's belly.

"Sure." Katie smiled.

Lilybeth put her hand lightly on Katie's belly and Katie watched as her eyes lit up when the baby kicked. "That's the baby!" she exclaimed.

"Yep, that on that side is Ani, she is the soccer player." Katie explained. She moved Lilybeth's hand to the other side of her belly. "Feel that?" Lilybeth nodded. "That's Micheal. He's a wiggler. I think his sister likes to hog the spotlight." Katie laughed.

Katie looked up when Meredith's pager went off. She looked at the message and looked up at Katie and Izzie. "I…uh… I gotta get this." She mumbles as she glances at it again and takes off running out the door.

Izzie looked over at Katie. Katie is looking very pale. "You saw what I just saw, right?" Katie asks.

"What?" Izzie asks, knowing exactly what Katie is talking about.

"Her face. It went pale. Right before she ran from the room. It's Matthew, isn't it?" Katie said, starting to breathe deeply and quickly.

"Katie, we don't know that. Just relax. Just relax, sweetie." Izzie said as she tried her best to comfort her. "It'll be alright. Whatever it is, it'll be alright."

Katie started to breathe normally again as she closed her eyes. "I'm ready for my exam." She whispered, as she held tightly to Lilybeth's hand.

--------------------

10:00 AM-

Meredith ran up the stairs two at a time, sprinting down the hallway, she sees a frantic Mark pacing in the hallway. "What happened?" She exclaimed.

"I didn't do anything! He started coughing! They had to intubate him, Meredith. He can't breathe on his own! He's getting worse!" Mark said as he grabbed Meredith by the shoulders. "He is supposed to be getting better! Where the hell is this new surgeon! WHY ISNT SHE HERE YET, MEREDITH?" Mark exclaimed.

"Let go of me, Mark!" Meredith yelled as she pulled out of Mark's grasp and stepped towards the door. "Stop it right now! I am going to check on him right now!" Meredith exclaimed as she entered the door, leaving Mark to panic in the hallway.

Inside the room, Derek is barking orders to the nurses. He turns and sees Meredith entering the room. "Where the hell were you? We needed you here!" Derek said angrily.

"Attitude check, Aisle four." Meredith said dryly. "What's going on? Mark is flipping out!" Meredith said as she monitored Matt's intubation and his connection to the ventilator.

"We need to get Aurora here now! His paralysis is advancing quickly." Derek said as he grabbed Meredith and pulled her into a hug.

"Well, its 10 AM here, that means it would be 4:00 pm where Aurora is. She wasn't supposed to be here until the 15th. Its only the 12th, today, what do we do?"

"Wake her up, interrupt her supper, stand on top of the rooftop and serenade her, I don't care, just get her here or get her on the phone for me!"

"What are his symptoms?" Meredith asked, pulling away. She grabs Matthew's chart and scans through it.

"Mark said that he was talking fine, and then he began to cough violently. He stopped breathing at 9:50, its ten now. He's on oxygen and anti inflammatory medication. He's been unconscious for five minutes. I suspect that it's a blood clot. If I can get in there in time, I can see the extent of the damage and I may be able to make Aurora's job a little easier." Derek said, with a sigh.

"How will this affect Aurora's procedure?" Meredith inquired.

"Honestly, I don't know. But we have to do this as soon as possible, or he won't survive until she gets here. I'll call her and get her on speaker phone. Get Matthew into the OR and ready to go. It looks like I'm going to have to go into this surgery half blind, but if anyone can locate the blood clot, it'll be Aurora."

"Derek." Meredith warned.

"Trust me, Meredith, She'll know." Derek responded. "Go get Matthew ready for surgery. I'm going to call Aurora, and then go talk to Katie."

"Please make sure that Izzie is there when you tell her. I don't want her to be alone." Meredith said concerned.

"Don't you worry. I have everything under control." Derek said as he put his hand on her cheek and kissed her and ran out the door to make his phone call.

----------------------

10:00 AM-

"Are we there yet?"

"Shut up."

"You say that a lot." Sam replied.

"Did you hear me?"

"Yeah."

"What'd I say?"

"You said 'shut up'"

"Are you shutting up?"

"No."

"I know what will shut you up."

"Oh yeah? What?" She says, taunting.

Suddenly, Jacks slammed on his brakes and pulled the car quickly to the side of the road. He reached over and kissed Sam full on the lips, closing his eyes, he buried his hands in her hair as she flicked her tongue into his mouth as they kissed. She put her hands in his hair and ran her fingers through his thick locks as she placed hands on his face, cupping his face as he pressed his lips harder to hers.

Suddenly, Jack pulls away and attempts to catch his breath. "Now, get your shirt on, and shut up!" He said as he flipped the switch for the car top to open and stared straight ahead laughing as Sam scrambled to find her shirt. Once the top was down, and Sam's shirt was on. Jack put the car in drive and took off down the road once again.

----------------------------

10:00 AM-

Lilybeth sat in the chair in the room, behind a curtain while Izzie performed Katie's exam. She swung her feet back and forth back, and forth, each time she'd kick the leg of the chair. Thump. Thump. Thump

"Lily, stop it." Izzie said from her side of the curtain.

"I'm not doing anything." She replied. Thump. Thump. Thump.

"Well, stop 'not doing anything'" Izzie grumbled. She looked up at Katie. "And you're going to have two if them!" She smiled.

"Not funny!" Katie said with a laugh. "Lilybeth, listen to your mommy, please." Katie said.

"Sure. Sorry, Aunt Katie." Lilybeth giggled as she stopped kicking the chair. Izzie gave Katie a fake glare.

"It's ok, sweetie." Katie responded. She looked at the look on Izzie's face and she knew that what Izzie was looking at wasn't good. "What is it?" Katie asked, looking at the ultrasound.

"I… um…" Izzie stuttered, squinting at the screen as she moved the device around on Katie's belly.

"Izzie!" Katie exclaimed.

"I just need to make a phone call. It's probably nothing." Izzie said as she just stared at the screen.

"What do you think you might not see?" Katie asked.

"Well… it looks like Ani has grown at a much faster rate than Michael. She has gained most of the weight. Michael is still pretty small."

"What does that mean?"

"It could mean a lot of things. But to be sure, I just need to make a couple of phone calls. He should be fine, you can feel him moving around, we can see him moving around, his heartbeat is strong. He should be fine." Izzie responded.

"Should be?"

"Will be, he'll be fine." Izzie says, nodding her head as she turns towards the door. "Phone call, I'll be right back. Just get dressed." Izzie responded as she opened the door. "Lily, keep Katie company."

"Ok, Mommy." Lilybeth said as she hopped off her chair, and Katie got dressed quickly.

Izzie walked out the door and nearly ran into Derek. Derek looked nervous as he stood there. Izzie grabbed his arm and pulled him down the hallway a few feet. "What is it?" Derek asked, becoming more nervous by the second.

"We need to get Addison here now!" Izzie responded. "Michael is not doing well at all. His heart rate is dropped and his movement is minimal. I'm worried Derek." Izzie replied.

"Shit! What did you tell Katie?"

"The same thing you should tell her. That the baby is going to be fine. Keep her calm." Izzie said as she turned and ran down the hallway.

"Keep her calm?" Derek said to himself, standing outside Katie's door. "Shit." He whispered.

Derek lightly knocked on the door. "Sweetie?" He whispered as he opened the door slightly.

"Come in, daddy." Katie responded.

"Uncle Derek!" Lilybeth laughed as she ran across the room and swung the door open.

"Lima bean!" Derek laughed as he picked up the little girl and tickled her a little. "What's up?" He asked as he set her down on the ground and walked to Katie's bed.

"Well, Izzie's lying to me, mom ran out of here like she was planning on stopping a 4 alarm fire, and Lilybeth is the only person that wants to spend any time with me." Katie said, her lip hanging out. "What happened with Matthew?" Katie said, right out.

"Why would you say there's something wrong with Matthew?"

"Well, for one, you responded by answering my question with a question. That's my first indication, and the second indication would be that… as I said… mom ran out of here like her butt was on fire." Katie says.

Lilybeth giggles as she sits on Derek's lap when he sits in the chair next to Katie's bed. "Daddy. I just want to go home. I want to get these babies out of me, and take them home. I want my Matty, I want my babies, and I want my baby brother home. I just want all of those things. It's just that--I'm exhausted. Having these babies inside of me is exhausting. What happened to Matthew is exhausting. And Jacks? You hating Jacks is the most exhausting of all, daddy. And I don't want you to do it anymore." Katie said as she burst into tears. Derek reaches over and cradles his daughter's head in his arms as she lets out all of her pain and frustration in wracking sobs.

Derek runs his fingers through her hair and kisses her forehead. "Baby. I have good news, and I have bad news. But I need to tell you them now, because I have something that I have to do." Derek whispered.

Sam is staring out the windshield, still quiet after the incident that shut her mouth in the first place. She was afraid that if she said anything that whatever came out of her mouth was going to sound stupid, so she just continued to stare out the window.

-------------------------

Jackson watched Sam fidgeting in her seat. For the first five minutes, he felt really bad for making her feel uncomfortable, until he glanced at her out of the corner of his eye and saw the small smirk on her face.

"You liked it didn't you." Jack said, with a smug smile.

"What? Your tongue in my mouth?" Sam replied, trying to sound repulsed.

"Yeah. You liked it." Jack responded.

They were silent for a few more minutes as they drove down the highway, lost in their thoughts. "I don't think you should do that again." Sam said softly.

"Why not?" Jack asked, glancing over at her. His smile fades when he notices that she's being serious.

"You have a girlfriend." Sam replied. Her face serious, she looks him in the eyes as he glances to her.

"First of all, I don't have a girlfriend. She dumped me, remember? Second of all, if you don't want me to kiss you, then stop looking at me like that." Jack replied.

"Stop looking at you like what? I'm not looking at you like anything." She responded.

"I don't know. Your eyes just twinkle, and you have that little dimple on your cheek, and your laugh is infectious. You're just going to have to stop being so goddamn cute." Jack responded, seriously. "Stop looking at me like you want me to kiss you, and I won't kiss you. And stop rubbing my neck like that, you're making me swerve the car." Jack said as he reached behind his neck and took her hand. He softly kissed her finger tips and gently placed her hand on her leg.

Sam looked over at him for a moment. "I'm sorry." She replied. "I didn't realize I was making you uncomfortable." She replied as she put her hand on his thigh and began to gently rub it. "I'll be much more careful next time." She said seductively.

"Sam." Jack said calmly. "Move your hand, now." Jack warned her, his voice trembling slightly.

"Ok." She said as she rubbed his leg farther up his thigh and back to his knee. Jack slammed on the brakes again and stopped the car quickly on the side of the road. He turned so that he was facing her. "Sorry." She said, with a little giggle as she pulled her hand back.

"Are you done?" He asked, his voice hard and forceful.

"Um… yeah…" She said anxiously, not sure what to think of his change in temperment.

"I'm warning you right now. If you keep it up, you're going to get me upset!" Jack replied.

"I'm sorry." Sam responded, her voice soft.

Jack leaned over and put his finger on her chin. He gently lifted her face up to his own, and gave her a gentle kiss on the lips. "Trust me, Sam. You do not want me to get upset". He said as his eyes twinkled.

Sam leaned over and kissed him back. "Hmm… someone has a little bit of an aggressive streak."

"Like you wouldn't believe." He said as he kissed her hungrily for several seconds. He pulled away from her lips and looked into her eyes. "Sammy, if we keep this up, we may never get to Boston." He said with a laugh.

"Would that be so bad?" Sam asked with a laugh as she hugged him close.

"No, I guess it wouldn't." Jack said as he hugged her back and kept his arm around her as he slipped the car into gear and began to drive again.

-------------------------

Katie wipes her tears and her sobs slow down at her father's soothing voice. "Good news and bad news? What do you mean? Is this about Matthew, daddy?" Katie whimpered as Lilybeth climbed carefully into the bed beside Katie, and hugged her.

"Well, it is about Matthew, but you just have to relax so that I can talk to you about it, so that you know the facts, sweetheart. Listen, the bad news… is that Matthew has gotten a little worse." Derek grabs her hand in support as her face reflects a look of pure terror. "But don't worry!" He says quickly. "He's gotten a little worse, and he's going to need surgery right now for me to find out what's wrong. We know that he has a blood clot in his spine, and it may be one of the points of pressure on his spinal cord. We're going to do all we can, your mom and I, to save him. We love him too, and we know how much you love him." Derek said as he rubbed his thumb across her hand, her eyes have softened to a look of surrender.

"What's the good news?" Katie whispered.

"The good news is, that when he wakes up, you will be right there by his side to give him all of the love that he needs to help him make it through." Derek said.

"I thought that… maybe the good news was that you were just making that up." Katie whimpered.

"I wish I could say that, sweetheart. Matthew loves you. Trust me, I know. He will make it through this. You will both make it through this. Hell, all four of you are going to make it through this, and you'll live long happy lives. You'll be together, and there's nothing that can stand in your way. Are you going to be alright?" Derek asked.

Katie looked into her father's eyes. She could feel the love that he was sending to her, and it warmed her heart. "Daddy?"

"Yeah, sweetie?"

"Can you ask Mark to come in here, if he doesn't mind. I'd like to talk to him." Katie whispered.

"I think he'd like that." Derek said as he reached up and put his daughter's face in his hand. "You get some rest, and don't let that Lima Bean drive you crazy." Derek said, poking Lilybeth's nose with his finger, making her giggle a little.

"I'll get some sleep. Daddy?"

"Yeah." Derek said as he stood up and kissed her forehead.

"Save him for me. I want him to hold me again." Katie said with a whisper.

"I can do that." He said as he walked towards the door. He turned around as he was about to open the door. "Katie?" He said. She looked up at him with a curious expression. "For the record. I don't hate your brother. I love Jackson just as much as I love you. I am not a very nice person sometimes. I let my emotions get the best of me, and I took it out on the wrong person. I miss him too. Sometimes, I have to remind myself that Jackson is exactly like me. He's stubborn, strong willed, and sometimes has a bad attitude. But when it all comes down to it, his heart is so much bigger and full of love than mine. He gets that from your mother. I do love him, Katie. Don't ever think otherwise." Derek said. "I love you, Katie-bug." Derek said softly as he stepped through the door.

"I love you too, daddy!" She called after him, and snuggled with Lilybeth as she closed her eyes and rested.

------------------------------

10:45-

Derek makes his way quickly to the OR, hoping that Aurora hasn't been waiting on the line long. He laughed to himself wondering what wit and wisdom was going to come from her today. Derek scrubs in and peers into the OR, Meredith is in there as it appears they're connecting the phone to the speaker.

Derek walks out of the scrub room into the OR. He checks Matt's vitals and looks around at the scrub nurses to begin the procedure. He smiles under his mask at Meredith, her eyes smile back, when he hears the ringing of the phone over the speaker, and suddenly, a voice comes booming over the loudspeaker.

"Derek Shepherd you had better have the mother of all reasons for calling me like this." a woman's voice said sternly.

"I'm sitting here, minding my own business, preparing for my lecture, which should by the way, take place in a quarter of an hour, and all of a sudden, I get an emergency call from you. Explain yourself."

"God… is that you? You sound really cranky..."

A snort was heard from the speaker phone.

"That was hilarious Dr Shepherd." the voice said sarcastically. "Keep it up and you'll see your creator sooner than you think!"

Derek grinned and chuckled as he prepared his instruments for the surgery and gave silent directions to the nurses to prepare Matthew for the spinal surgery.

"I'm sorry Aurora...are you threatening me because you missed your tea-time?" he asked sweetly. "Maybe you should put some ginseng in that by the way, it could really help with the mood-swings."

"Excuse me? Cheer me up? Your hair-mousse must be shrinking your brain!" Aurora Lockhart said sarcastically, "Just because you're having a mid-life crisis doesn't mean you should over-use that stuff you know."

The nurses and Meredith snickered at her comment and Derek looked around at them, all of which averted his gaze. "Aurora Lockhart, full of wit, wisdom, and God only knows what else." Derek replied.

"So what's wrong with my patient anyway?" the musical voice asked, and the smile faded from Derek's face.

"We have our 26 year old father-to-be here with advancing paralysis. Approximately 45 minutes ago, he went into respiratory arrest and was intubated. It appears that this particular injury would have a direct relationship to his paralysis in his arms, based on the location of swelling in his spinal column and tests have confirmed that there is no relationship between the advancing paralysis and the paralysis in his legs, which you have ever intention of dealing with when you get here. Therefore, this surgery will not affect the test results that we faxed you regarding Matthew's case initially. Our suspsicions are a clot, though we're not sure exactly where, and time is running out." Derek responded.

A sigh was heard from the speaker phone, but then Aurora cleared her throat and her energy seemed to be focus almost like she was there next to them.

"You need to find the clot, and soon. Damn it, if only I was there! I bet you love this, don't you Shepherd? You and tinkering are a love-match...Meredith must feel so depressed to come in second place..."

Derek made a frustrated noise, and looked defeated.

"I do not tink-"

"Lying's a sin, didn't they teach you that at Sunday-school?" she interrupted him. "Anyway tinkerbell, is Meredith there?"

Derek glances up at Meredith. Meredith indicates for Derek to keep his mouth shut. He smiles as he responds.

"No, she's with Katie." he said, flashing Meredith a dreamy look across the operating table.

Dr Lockhart gave another unimpressed noise, and Meredith could almost see her raising her eyebrows.

"Now I'm upset. I know I don't look like an idiot so I must sound like one. You can't hide the smile in your voice." she said, and then added in a more cheerful voice "Hi Mer!"

"Hi Aurora!" Meredith laughed. "Are we ready?" Meredith asked.

"Let's get this started!" Derek exclaimed as he began the surgery.

Derek and Meredith begin the surgery and work diligently for two hours, Aurora guiding them the entire way through. Derek notes any damage that he sees, and is instructed by Aurora exactly what to do.

"Now we just have to find the damn clot." Derek mumbled as he looked around and tried to identify it.

"Meredith? Hold the clamp more to the right, Derek needs more access to the x vertebrae." Aurora interrupts over the speaker.

Meredith and Derek exchange looks across the table and pause for a moment.

"What?" Aurora said challengingly. "You wanna argue this?"

"Nope, I've got no complaints." Derek chuckled.

Meredith moves the clamp where Aurora told her to and continued to look for the hiding clot.

"And Derek, you might want to show the fifth and sixth vertebrae more attention, they've been known to hide around there. But add more suction or you won't see any-"

"How do you do that!?" he interrupted her.

"It's called skill dear friend" she said sweetly, "you may not have heard of it?"

After two more minutes, Derek finds the clot right where Aurora had told them it would be. Derek and Meredith gave one another surprised, but very happy expressions as they announce their find and repair what they can while they are in there.

"Excellent. Now try and keep this one alive, Shepherd. Because if I've flown across several countries and the Atlantic for no reason, Meredith'll become a widow before her time."

"And Mer?" Aurora said, her voice softer. "Kiss Katie for me. Tell her not to have a seizure when all the stupid people are telling her to calm down." Aurora said warmly, "And take care."

"We'll see you when you get here." Derek responded as he heard the speakerphone click off. Derek looked up at Meredith. "All we can do now is wait." Derek said softly.

"That is officially my least favorite four letter word." Meredith said as she continued to assist. She glanced up at Derek for a moment, and he was looking at her, his eyes sparkling. "Don't you dare even say it." Meredith responds.

"What? I didn't say anything." Derek replies as he continues the procedure.

11:30 am- Mercy West waiting room

Charlotte waits for Cristina in the hospital waiting room. She reads a magazine quietly when a man sits next to her. He is in his early 20s and seems to be taking an interest in what Charlotte is reading.

"Hmm..." He says as he glances at her reading material.

Charlotte looks at him out of the corner of her eye. "Can I help you?" Charlotte glares.

"No. It's ok." The man says as he sits back in his chair and looks out at the waiting room. Suddenly he leans over to Charlotte. "You must be a surgeon's daughter." He says softly.

"Excuse me?" Charlotte says, a bit abrasively.

"The daughter of a surgeon. I'm just saying." He said as he sat back and crossed his arms, glancing at her out of the corner of his eye, a small smile playing at his lips..

Charlotte continued to read her magazine, trying her hardest to ignore the man. She sees him glancing at her. "And why would you say that?" Charlotte asks.

"Well... a couple of things... first of all, you're sitting in a waiting room with about thirty very sick people, and you're not spraying lysol all over your body. Second of all, you seem very content just sitting and waiting for something, or someone. Most 'patients' look anxious or angry when they sit in a waiting room. Thirdly, and most importantly, you're reading a medical journal. The only people that read medical journals are either medical students, or children of doctors who are in the medical journals, and by the article I noticed you were reading, I'd say that you're the daughter of Cristina Yang-Burke." The man said with a smile.

"How very perceptive of you. However, I'm not reading an article by my mother." Charlotte replies.

"Yes, but the tag on your briefcase has your name on it." The man said with a smile. "Bill Jones." The man said, holding his hand out to her.

"Charlotte Burke." Charlotte replied, shaking his hand. She closed her magazine and the two of them talked until Cristina arrived in the waiting room to get Charlotte for lunch.

------------------------------

11:30-

::Ring, Ring::

Katie rolls over in her bed and picks up her cell phone without looking at the caller ID. "Hello?" She says sleepily into the receiver.

"Katie?" The voice on the other line says.

"Jacks?" Katie said, her voice hopeful. "Where are you?" She asked, concern filling her voice.

"Somewhere in… I don't know… Wisconsin, I think." Jack said, looking around. Sam is asleep on the seat next to him, cuddled into a small blanket that he had bought for her at a convenience store.

"Why are you there, why aren't you home? Please come home!" Katie said softly into the phone, her voice beginning to crack.

"Why? Why would you want me to come home? I killed Matthew. I…was stupid and Charlotte hates me… and dad hates me… and … and you should hate me." Jack whimpered into the phone.

"Matt is not dead, Jacks! He's alive. He misses you too!" Katie said into the phone quickly.

Jack is silent for a while, poking at the steering wheel while the words that his sister just spoke echo in his mind. "He's alive?" Jack asks, Katie can hear his spirits lifting in his voice.

"Yes! Mom and dad are in surgery with him right now! He told me it was his fault, why did you leave, Jacks? Why did you just leave?" Katie cried. Lilybeth stirred next to her, looking up at her on the phone.

"I had to get away from there, Katie. Dad almost killed me, Charlotte broke up with me, I just don't belong there. I don't belong there." Jack cried. Sam stirs and reaches her hand across and holds it out to him. He sees her gesture and reaches out to hold it as he talks. She shifts and leans her head on his shoulder, putting her arm around him while holding his hand.

"That's ridiculous Jack. You're my baby brother, you belong here. You need to be here with me and mom, and dad, and Charlotte. Dad loves you. He said so himself. He said that he feels awful that he took out his fear and frustration on you. He said that, Jack. He means it!" Katie cried.

"No. He doesn't Katie. He just said that so that you wouldn't get upset for me leaving. He doesn't want you to have a harder time with the babies. How are the babies? How are my little niece and nephew?" Jack asked, a small smile crosses his sad face as he says it.

"They're ok. They miss you. Michael isn't doing so well, Jack. I'm worried about him. Izzie had to call in someone to check on him, and to help with the delivery, just in case something is wrong. I'm scared, Jacks. I need you here. Matty's not here, but I need you. You need to tell me what's happening. No one else will be straight with me about it. I've been sitting in this bed for days. All I can think about is how I don't know where you are and how hurt Matt is going to be if you don't come back. Jackson, please come home." Katie sobbed into the phone.

"Katie…I can't…I can't come home. I need to be alone. I need to find what is missing. I need to do this." Jack responded.

"What's missing? What do you mean? We all want you to come back! You have to come back! Stop being selfish and foolish and come home!"

"I AM NOT SELFISH!" Jack screamed into the phone. His voice calmed immediately when Sam squeezes his hand supportively.

"Yes you are! You left for YOU! You didn't think of anyone else! Charlotte has been waiting for you to call her back! She loves you so much and you won't even call her!"

"First of all! I asked her to come with me! She broke up with ME! She refused to come with ME! Second of all, I did call her, she hung up on me!" Jack said angrily. Sam squeezed his hand again. She could feel his anger building up inside of him with each sentence his sister spoke.

"She did not hang up on you, dumbass! Her stupid phone ran out of battery power! You were drunk and you're in a hotel room with some skanky whore and you call your girlfriend, really smart! REALLY SMART!" Katie said, her sadness turning to rage.

"See Katie! DO YOU SEE THIS? THIS IS WHY I LEFT! YOU JUST SEALED THE FUCKING DEAL ON THIS ONE KATIE! YOU WILL NOT TALK ABOUT SAM LIKE THAT! SHE HAS BEEN HERE FOR ME THROUGH THIS! MAYBE ITS BECAUSE SHE DOESN'T KNOW ME! MAYBE ITS BECAUSE SHE HASN'T SEEN WHAT A FUCK UP I AM, BUT WHO THE HELL KNOWS, AND WHO THE HELL CARES? MAYBE THAT ISN'T IT AT ALL! MAYBE I LOVE HER! MAYBE THAT'S IT! MAYBE THIS IS GODDAMNED FATE! I DON'T NEED THIS KATIE!" Jack screamed into the phone. When he stops yelling, he listens and all he hears is the soft crying of his sister. The phone shifts a little and a small voice comes over the line.

"Now you've really gone and done it, Jack. You made her cry, you dolt!" Lilybeth says over the line and hangs up the phone.

Jack pulls the phone from his ear and stares out the windshield at the gas station that they're parked at. He closes his phone and continues to stare straight ahead. He moves his fingers on his other hand, but they are still clasped tightly in Sam's grasp. He looks down at her and her eyes are wide in surprise as she stares out the windshield.

"Crap." Jack says to himself.

Mark opens Katie's room door slowly and peeks in. She's lying on her back, crying her eyes out, with Lilybeth cuddling her close trying to soothe her. Mark comes in quicker and walks to her bed.

"Katie… It's ok Katie, he'll be ok. Don't cry sweetheart." Mark says as he sits next to her and puts her fingers through her hair.

"Its… its… not… Matt." Katie hiccups. "Its… Jacks…" She whimpers.

"Jack? What happened? Did you hear something about him?" Mark says quickly, trying to calm her, but trying to get information from her at the same time. "Is he hurt? Katie?" Mark says, truly concerned.

"No. He's fine." Lilybeth said, looking up at Mark. "He called Katie and yelled at her. He made her cry." Lilybeth said indignitly.

"He yelled at you? Why did he yell at you, baby?" Mark said, sitting up on Katie's bed, pulling her head closer to him so that he can wipe away her tears.

"He said he doesn't ever want to come back!" Katie cried. "He wants to stay with that girl. He thinks no one loves him here. I miss him. I miss Matt. I want to go home!" Katie cried as Mark tried to comfort her as much as he could.

"Don't worry, sweetheart. Your dad and mom are in there, fixing up Matt. He'll have his second surgery in a couple of days and everything will be alright." Mark said in a soft voice. "I talked with Izzie, she said that Addison will be here in the morning, she's taking the first flight she can out of Boston to be here for you and the babies, and Jacks…Jacks just needs a little time alone now. He may be with someone else, but it's probably good for him to get away from all of the craziness around here. He needs to clear his head, sweetheart. He needs to figure out where he fits in with this whole situation. He'll be home." Mark said softly.

"I can't imagine what he's feeling right now, you know? He lives here, with his parents, who are so intelligent, in love, and into one another. He has an older sister that he looks up to so much, that he thinks that he can never compare. He doesn't have a job yet, he doesn't have many friends. He has Charlotte, and he really loves her, and she loves him, but there seems to be something missing for him."

"Derek is way too hard on the kid, always pushing him to 'make something of himself'. He's twenty one years old and he feels like he has the weight of the world on his shoulders. Something is just missing for him. For the past few months, I've talked to your mother about Jacks, I've talked to him. I've seen that sparkle in his eye disappearing for months now. Then, this thing happens. Jack was hurt pretty badly from what your mother has said. I guess your dad slapped him around and then he went into your father's bathroom in his office. He was pretty badly beaten down both physically and mentally, not to mention that he blames himself completely for what happened to Matthew. They were up there together, they're adults, they can make their own decisions. Just because they made the wrong one, doesn't mean he should be crucified. I mean, yeah… I am pretty pissed off that they went mountain climbing, but hell, I would have done the same thing! He just needs a change, Katie. He needs perspective. He'll come back, it'll just take a little time. We don't need to worry about him, or for him. He's smart enough to keep himself out of trouble."

"We… Katie, we have our own worries and concerns right now, and we don't need to put Jackson on the top of the list right now. This has been a long time in coming for him. The best thing we can do for him is let him go his own way, and meet him in the middle." Mark said as he listened to Katie's breathing slow as she calmed down with Mark's soothing words.

"I miss Matty." Katie said softly.

"I know you do. I miss him too. I was there you know, when he started having problems breathing. He told me to tell you that he loves you." Mark lied, but he knew that Matt would have told her that if he had known that he was going to pass out. "Your dad and mom will have him as good as new in no time." Mark said into her hair.

"You sound like you're trying to convince yourself." Katie responded.

"You are so cynical, you know that? You take right after your mother." Mark said with a half smile.

"Now you're just trying to get me to smile." Katie smiled.

"Nope." Mark said as he faced her. "If I was trying to make you smile, I'd tell you a funny story."

Katie leaned her head on Mark again and pulled Lilybeth closer to her side. "Tell me a funny story, then. We'll see if it works." Katie laughed.

-----------------------------------------

"Crap." Jack says to himself.

"Um…" Jack says as he tries again to move his hand, but Sam is holding onto it quite tightly. "Can I have that back?" He asks politely.

"No." She says softly, still staring out the window. Her eyebrows raised, still stunned by the conversation that had just taken place.

"Why not?"

"Because. Just because." She said softly.

"Do you mind if we get going?" He asks.

"Nope."

"Would you mind putting the car in drive for me?"

"Nope." She says as she reaches forward and pulls the shifter back with her other hand.

"Thanks."

"No problem." She replies as she pulls the blanket farther up her shoulder with her free hand and closes her eyes, her hand still in his.


	57. Chapter 57

Chapter 57-

"A funny story, huh?" Mark said with a laugh. "Well, there was the time that your father and I had a 'boys day out'. Your dad brought Jack, I brought Matthew and we went out and did some things with them and then we were going to make dinner afterwards for you girls, so we had to do a little grocery shopping."

_"This is so stupid!" eight year old Matthew complained as he followed his father and Derek through the grocery store. Three year old Jackson giggled in the cart while they walked down the aisle. _

"Quiet, Matty. We shouldn't be here too long." Mark said as they walked down the aisle trying to find different ingredients.

"Ugh!" Matt exclaimed, disgusted. "Daddy, can we get cookies?" Matthew asked.

"Sure. Go get some cookies." Mark replied. Matt smiled and ran off down the cookie aisle. "I'm going to go get the stuff for the salad, you get the stuff for the main course." Mark said as he turned and walked away.

"Fine, fine." Derek said as he walked down the aisle. He made a funny face at Jack, who laughed. "Silly daddy!" He squealed as he reached out to grab Derek's nose. Derek walked down the aisle with Jackson holding his nose as he made funny noises, making the little boy laugh. "Daddy! I want down!" Jack said suddenly as he maneuvered his legs, attempting to climb out of the cart.

"No, no, you have to stay in the cart, buddy." Derek said, straightening him out.

"No, daddy. I wanna go down! Down, daddy!" Jack insisted.

"You want down?"

"Yes."

"Will you be a good boy?"

"Yes."

"You promise?"

"With sugar on top!"

"Ok. I'll take that as a promise, but if you're a bad boy, you'll be in big trouble."

"Ok!" He beamed. Derek carefully lifted the little boy out of the cart and let him roam about in front of him as they walked down the aisle, Derek picking up various items and placing them in the cart. Jack watched Derek very carefully as he looked at the different types of tomato sauces. He put his finger on his chin in thought as he looked at the different brands. When he found the one he wanted, he picked it up and put it in his cart. Jack turned around and did the same thing. He stood, looking at the cans on the shelf, with his little finger on his chin, took a step forward and picked up a can and put it in the cart, beaming proudly.

Derek didn't notice it, nor did he notice the eight other cans of various things that Jack put in the cart. At one point, Jackson saw Matt walk down the aisle and took off after him. "MATTY!" He squealed. Before Derek could grab him, Jack was already halfway down the aisle after Matt.

"JACKSON!" Derek called as he chased after him down the aisle, but the little boy was far too fast for him. Derek left the cart and ran around the corner and Jack was gone. "Jack!" Derek called. "Come on buddy, where are you?" Derek called as he walked down the next aisle.

Jack had turned the corner and run down the next aisle, by the time Derek had caught up to him, he had turned the corner again and saw the cart, but no Derek. He looked around panicking. "Daddy? Daddy, where are you?" He called as he sat down next to the cart and started to cry.

Derek started to get frantic as he ran through the store, he turned the corner and came upon Mark arguing with Matt.

"No! I said you can get one package of cookies, you don't need four different kinds!" Mark scolded.

"But Katie doesn't like chocolate chip, she likes sugar cookies, and I don't want to share with Jack, he drools on everything when he eats and he's gross, so I got him animal crackers, cuz he eats like an animal." Matt explained.

"No, one package that's it." Mark looks up and sees a frantic Derek running down the aisle toward him. "What's wrong? Where's Jack?" Mark asked.

"I lost him, he took off." Derek said, out of breath from running.

"You took him out of the cart? What were you thinking? He's three years old!" Mark said as he took off looking for Jack. Derek ran off in the other direction. Matt took six packages of cookies and went to find the cart. While Derek and Mark were running frantic around the store looking for Jack, Matt walked down the aisle and around a couple corners and could hear Jack crying not far away. He walked down the aisle and saw the little boy on the floor crying.

"Hey, Jacks." Matt says coolly as he walks up to him and puts the cookies in the cart.

Jack looks up and suddenly his tears stop. "Matty! He exclaims as he stands up and gives Matt a hug.

"Ok, ok… enough with the lovey dovey stuff! Wanna ride?" Matt asks, indicating the cart.

"Yes! Let's go find daddy!" Jack said with a giggle as Matt hoisted him up into the cart. Matt put one foot on the cart and pushed the two of them along with the other foot, periodically running into the shelves full of cans and other products along the way. Jack giggled the whole time while Matt skipped along through the store looking for their father's.

Ten minutes and a full cart later, Derek spotted the two of them and called down the aisle for them to stop. Matt turned and stopped and Mark came down the aisle in a different direction. "Ok! We're going… NOW!" Derek exclaimed as Matt stepped away from the cart and Derek took control, taking the open bag of chips out of his son's hand and setting it in the cart.

"Those were mine, daddy!" Jack squealed.

"You can have them when we get to the car." Derek said, exhausted.

Jack giggled in response. 

-------

"I think we spent about four hundred dollars that day. We didn't even use half of the things in the cart. Your mom almost died laughing when she found that the kids had put hemorrhoid cream and Depends in the cart. I don't think your mom ever did wear that purple lipstick that Jackson had picked out for her." Mark laughed.

Katie giggled uncontrollably at the story, tears of laughter coming down her face. "Ok, I think it worked." Katie giggled again.

"So, the moral of the story is… don't let the man do the shopping. It's just not going to turn out right." Mark laughed.

"Matt's not getting out of it that easily!" Katie giggled.

"Good girl." Mark laughed.

----------------------------------

3:30pm- Derek's office.

Derek is sitting in his office after surgery, Meredith went to check on Katie to tell her how the surgery went and Derek reads through some literature that Aurora had faxed him about the surgery to be performed on Matthew. His mind is on the papers in front of him, and he is so engrossed, that he doesn't realize that Meredith has been standing in the doorway for about five minutes. She leans against the doorway and waits as he chews nervously on the cap of his pen, humming to himself as he reads the papers.

"Don't swallow that." Meredith said in a motherly voice, giggling when he jumps a little, and smiles when he looks up.

"What? The pen cap?" He asks with a half grin.

"No, Derek. I mean your pride. Don't swallow that. Of course, the pen cap, and please, please swallow your pride." Meredith says as she steps into the office towards the desk, closing the door behind her.

"Funny…" Derek replies as he sets the papers down and leans across the desk. "How is she?" He whispered.

"She's doing alright. She said she heard from Jack."

"Jack? Where is he? Is he alright, Mer? When did he call her?" Derek asked in rapid fire concern.

"He called her when we were in surgery. She said he was in Wisconsin."

"Wisconsin? What is he doing in Wisconsin?" Derek asked, concern written all over his face.

"She said that he was looking for something that is missing in his life." She said softly as she sat down in the chair in front of his desk and reached her hands across to his.

"But he's ok? He's alive?"

"He's alive and kicking. He's not stupid. He'll come home, he is as pigheaded as his father."

"Hey!" Derek responded and chuckled at Meredith's raised eyebrow. "He's not that bad." Derek finished a smile flashed across his face, making her smile back. "I screwed up." Derek said softly. "Its my fault that he left. I shouldn't have hurt him that day." Derek said, his face suddenly going sullen and guilty as he put his head down and looked at the desk.

"It's not anyone's fault, Derek. You can't base his decision on just one incident of passionate anger from you. He has always felt like an outcast, always felt a sense of inadequacy. It's not that anyone meant to treat him any different than anyone else. He's a different person from Katie, or Matt. He's sensitive, and he's much younger, and he is a spoiled, angry boy, sometimes. But you also can admit that his heart is so big, so full of love, that it weighs him down. It keeps him from doing the things he wants to do. He's so afraid that he'll disappoint you. He looks up to you so much. He needs to sort through his thoughts. Maybe he needed to go somewhere… you know? Maybe he just needs perspective, Derek."

Derek sat, staring at his desk for a few minutes. Meredith didn't miss for a second the tear that had escaped his eye and fallen to the papers on the desk, no matter how hard he tried to hide it. "You seem awfully confident that he'll find his way back." Derek said. "Yesterday, you were yelling at me to bring him back, today you're telling me to let him go. Why the sudden change in attitude? What made you change your mind?" Derek asked as he wiped his eye quickly and looked up at her.

"I just get the feeling that he's well taken care of on his soul searching trip. He'll come home." Meredith said as she stood up and walked around his desk. He turned his chair and pulled her into his lap. She kissed his cheeks, where the tears had fallen and looked him in the eyes, they're sad and sorrowful. "Derek. It's not your fault. It's not his fault. Sometimes, something bad has to happen before you realize how good things were, and if you try hard enough, we can get it back. We can get it back and much more if we just meet him halfway." Meredith said as she wrapped her arms around his neck. He put his arms around her and sighed in sadness as she squeezed him tighter.

----------------------------------

"_Ok… Jacks, Char. I'm going to lift you onto the boat. I want you to sit down and be very still, we don't want it to tip over." Derek instructed as he lifted seven year old Jack into the boat.. _

"Ok, Daddy."

"Ok, Derek." Charlotte said as Derek lifted her onto the boat first. She carefully walked to the little bench and sat next to Jack.

Derek got into the boat next, lifting the fishing poles and gear in after, carefully watching to make sure that the two kids sat in their seats.

"Why do we gotta wear these stupid vest thingys?" Charlotte asked as she pulled at her life vest.

"Just in case you fall into the water, we don't want you to go under." Derek explained.

"Yeah! If you go under the water, you'll DIE!" Jack said, with a scary voice.

"Will not!" Charlotte said, pushing him.

"Ok guys. Cut it out." Derek said as he began to row the boat out into the lake. The two of them stopped arguing and looked out into the water as Derek paddled them farther and farther out into the lake. He got to a good spot and pulled out Jack's fishing pole. He handed it to him and handed him the bucket of worms. "Are you going to teach Charlotte how to fish?" Derek asked as he handed Charlotte her brand new fishing pole.

"Heck no! She can learn how to do it herself!" Jack said with a giggle as he began to put the worm on his hook.

"Jack." Derek said with a smile.

"I'm kidding!" Jack said with a big grin. His blue eyes sparkling "Here Char, hold your fishing pole like this!" Jack explained as he put it in her hands and started to help her put the worm on it.

Derek smiled as he watched his son explain how to throw the line out and he helped her do it, and put his line out as well. Derek put his line out and turned around, letting the two of them sit and enjoy the afternoon out.

About fifteen minutes later, Derek turned around after hearing Jack begin to laugh uproariously and Charlotte is standing at the end of the boat putting something in her pockets. "Char, honey, why don't you sit down, what are you doing?" Derek asked as he watched her squirming as she shoved whatever it was in her pocket. Derek was immediately suspicious because Jack was laughing so hard.

"Putting the worms in my pockets. Jacks said that if I do that I'll catch a fishy faster!" Charlotte said innocently.

"Jackson! No sweetheart, don't listen to him, he's picking on you." Derek laughed as he stood up and shifted over to them. He gave Jack a playful ruffle of his hair as he helps Charlotte pull the worms from her pockets and carefully sits her down.

"JACK YOU'RE A BIG JERK!" Charlotte yelled as Jack giggled uncontrollably.

Derek laughed as he helped Charlotte sit down. He went back over to his fishing pole and sat down.  
"Hmm…" Charlotte said as she looked over at Jack who was still smiling from his earlier prank.

"What?" He said, his smile disappearing.

"Nothin." Charlotte said with a giggle.

"What?"

"Nothin!" Charlotte responded.

"Come on."

"It's just… there's a bee in your hair." Charlotte said.

"A BEE? THERE IS A BEE IN MY HAIR?" Jack says standing up, brushing his head rapidly, shaking the boat.

"You almost got it!" Charlotte giggled from her seat

"Jack! Stop !" Derek said. Suddenly, Jack moved quickly to the left, and Charlotte reached out and pushed him hard. He went flying into the water with a big splash. Derek stood there stunned and watched as his son went under for a moment and bobbed back up, his life vest helping to keep him afloat.

"THERE! I thought maybe you could catch fish easier if you were CLOSER TO THEM!" Charlotte said with a smirk

"CHARLOTTE BURKE! YOU"RE GOING TO DIE!" Jack yelled, half mad, half laughing. He reached up to grab the side of the boat.

Derek and Charlotte laughed from inside the boat at the frustrated and wet little boy. "Help me!" He called innocently. Charlotte walked over to the edge and kneeled down, holding her hand out.

"YOU WON'T GET OUT OF IT THAT EASILY!" Jack said as he yanked on her arm hard and she went flying into the water also.

All Derek could do, is stand there and watch as the two kids splashed at each other, yelling and giggling as he stood by and laughed. 

-------------

Jack shifted a little in his seat, Sam's head was till resting on his shoulder as he drove and her hand was still grasping his.

"Hey." He mumbled.

"Huh?" She said with a soft whisper.

"I'm going to need my hand back." He said, a little harshly.

"Why?"

"I dunno. I shouldn't be doing this."

"Doing what?"

"Flirting with you. Holding your hand. Kissing you. I shouldn't. I… I have a girlfriend."

"But…"

"No, Sam. No, I can't." Jack said with a grumble as he pulled his hand back from hers.

"Jack…"

"No, Sam. That's it. This is it. I can't do this." Jack said.

Sam sat up, she looked over at Jack and his face was void of emotion. She frowned in frustration as she turned and leaned against the cold, hard window of the car, her mind drifting off, her heart breaking.

----------------------------------

8 pm- Adrian, Michigan-

"I'm going to go get a room and then we can eat at the little bar restaurant attached to the hotel, what do you think?" Jack said. It was the first thing he had said to her since he had snapped at her.

"Whatever." She muttered as she threw the blanket she had over herself into the back seat.

"What is your problem?" Jack asked, her only response was a dirty look.

"Just shut up. I'm hungry." She grumbled as she climbed out of the car and shuffled towards the hotel. Jack got out and came up behind her. He put his hand on her shoulder to stop her and she turned and threw daggers at him with her eyes. "You can't touch, remember? You have a girlfriend." She growled as he pulled his hand back quickly.

Jack stepped in front of her and opened the door to the hotel for Sam, who walked in front of him and into the lobby. He walked up to the counter to get the room while Sam wandered the lobby and settled next to the little display with the flyers and brochures.

"Hey, have you ever been sailing before?" A man's voice interrupted her thoughts as she looked up and saw a man, in his late twenties looking over at her.

She gave him a confused look and looked down to realize that she was holding a brochure for sailing lessons. She looked up at him and smiled. "No, I've never gone sailing before, have you?" She asks politely.

"I have a sail boat, two actually." He says with a smile. "Are you from around here?" He asks.

"I'm from Boston, I'm heading home."

"Ah… so you're boyfriend and you are going home for the summer vacation, huh?"

"Boyfriend? Oh, him?" She laughs, loud enough for Jack to turn to see her talking to the man. "He's not my boyfriend. I have been hitchhiking from Oregon to Boston. He is just giving me a lift." Sam says, nodding at Jack. "Seriously, I don't even know the kid's last name." She smirks.

"Hitchiking, huh? I am actually on my way to Boston tomorrow." The man says with a smile.

"Really?" She smiled. "Business or pleasure?" She asked sweetly.

"Well, business tomorrow, pleasure tonight." He said softly. "Have you had anything to eat yet?"

"Actually, no." She smiled. "How about you?" Sam asked as she leaned her back against the wall and flipped through the brochure in her hands.

"Nope. I was just about to go downstairs to the restaurant, would you like to join me?"

"Actually, she's with me." Jack said, walking up to Sam, taking her hand.

Sam yanks her hand away from him and gives him a dirty look. "I am most certainly not with you! I can go to dinner with whoever I want to!" Sam said angrily.

"Sam, I got a room, I'm paying for dinner, let's just go eat." Jack said softly, trying not to make any more of a scene.

"Sam? That's a pretty name." The man says with a smile. "I'll buy you dinner. You can stay in my room if you want, I have two queen size beds."

"No." Jack said angrily. "Sam."

"Jack. Like you said. This is it. It can't happen."

"Sam." Jack said, his voice anxous.

"What? What do you want JACK?" Sam yelled, causing a scene.

"Shut up, let's go!" Jack said as he grabbed her hand.

"Don't you talk to a lady like that!" The man said as he stepped forward to defend her, he reached forward to take Sam's hand.

Jack stepped in front of her and pushed her behind him. "Don't you dare touch her!" Jack growled angrily.

"What is your problem, man. She said she's not with you!" The man says angrily.

"She's angry with me right now. But trust me, she's with me now, and she'll be with me for a long time! Now go to fucking hell!" Jack said as he grabbed Sam's hand and pulled her down the hallway towards the room that he had just paid for.

He held tightly to her arm as she struggled against his grasp as he unlocked the door. He swung the door open and pushed her inside quickly, slamming the door behind himself.

"What the hell is wrong with you!" Jack yelled as he released her arm.

"What do you mean, what the hell is wrong with me? HUH? Leave me alone! You aren't my keeper! You aren't my father, brother, boyfriend, WHATEVER! WHAT GIVES YOU THE RIGHT TO TELL ME WHAT TO DO?" Sam yells as she pushes her hands against his chest in anger, her eyes darkening.

She continued to yell at him, pounding her fist onto his chest, expecting him to fight back. Jack stood there, taking her hits, his heart breaking with each blow. He felt defeated, sad and hurt as she punched him over and over. He just stood there, feeling as alone as he had ever felt, and there was something else there that he couldn't understand as he looked into this perfect stranger's angry eyes as she screamed at him. Normally in a situation like this, he would always try to get the upper hand, always fight back, but there was something about the fire in her eyes that told him that he couldn't do it to her. He let her have complete control. She hit him over and over, expecting him to fight back, being the stubborn person that he claimed to be.

After a few seconds, she stopped, seeing that he wasn't fighting back, she felt awful as she looked into his soft blue eyes. He was watching her with a mix of hurt, and sorrow as his head tilted slightly as he watched her stop yelling at him. She took a step back, trying to get away from his sorrowful gaze, those piercing blue eyes that she was afraid that she was falling for.

"Jack?" She whispered.

"I…I…I'm sorry." He whispered back.

"Sorry? You're sorry? For what?" Sam snapped, confused.

Jack took a step forward towards her and put his hand on her cheek. He looked into her dark eyes and felt like he could see her soul. Sam wanted to tear herself away from his gaze, knowing that no good could come from this, but she just couldn't do it. "I…I'm sorry that… I'm sorry that I met Charlotte first." He muttered as he bent down and kissed her lightly on the lips, he backed away a little and looked into her eyes, when he looked into them, he could see the tears threatening to fall.

They held one another's gaze for several minutes, neither one knowing what the other's next move would be.

----------------------------------

_Meredith walked into the kitchen, and immediately, her seven year old son slammed closed the magazine he was looking at and shoved it onto his lap. She smiled as she walked around him, ruffling his blonde locks with her hand as she walked around the counter he was sitting at and leaned over it. He grinned broadly when he saw that it was his mother that had walked into the room. "Hey mommy." He said with a giggle. _

"Did you pick one out?" she asked, nodding towards him to lift the magazine up.

He plopped the magazine on the counter and grinned as he quickly flipped through it. "I think he'd like that one! I don't think he has one yet!" Jack smiled as he pointed out something in the magazine.

"Hmm… I don't think he has that one either. Do you think he'll like it?" Meredith asked as she reached across the counter and poked his little nose.

"Yes! He says he likes all of the boats I make him, this one will be special, it's a real big one. Not big like the one that me and Papa are making in New York, but it'll be bigger than the others." He giggled. "Promise you won't tell him?" He pleaded with his mother.

"I promise. Now if that's the one that you want, I'll order it and you can start on it next week, how does that sound?" Meredith asked as she took a long look at the picture in the magazine.

"That's the one, its gonna be great! Thanks mommy!"

"It's no problem, sweetie. I love you."

"I love you too." He smiled. 

-------

A tear rolled down Meredith's cheek as she lifted the broken mast off the beautiful ship that her son had constructed for his father. This was the first time that Derek had been home since Jackson had left.

Derek sat in his desk chair, stunned at the mess that surrounded him. Each and every one of these boats were a gift from his son, be it father's day, Christmas, or his birthday, and each and every one of them had been smashed to small pieces that littered the floor of Derek's study. Derek felt tightness in his chest at the sight of the broken ships, he felt at that moment as if his heart was breaking, and that there was no amount of glue that could put it back together.

Derek stood up and walked to his bookshelf. He stood there for several seconds and immediately turned around and walked across the room to a locked cupboard. He pulled the key out and went to put it into the lock, realizing the door was unlocked. "Meredith." He whispered. "Please tell me he didn't." Derek said as he closed his eyes. He slowly opened the cupboard with his eyes closed tightly. Meredith watched him as he took a deep breath and opened them slowly.

Inside the cupboard sat the little schooner that Jackson had built for him. The first one, the one that Derek had bought for him. It was completely intact and untouched. The only difference, was a small note that was attached to the shelf below it.

Derek picked up the note and looked at the words on it, the tears that were already in his eyes began to fall. Derek handed the note to Meredith and carefully made his way quickly and carefully out of the door of his study.

Meredith looked at the note, and in Jackson's handwriting was written. 'I don't hate you, daddy. Love, Jackson.' Meredith looked up at the little boat, slipped the note in her pocket and quickly followed her husband into the hallway.

----------------------------------

Jack opened his mouth to say something, but quickly stopped himself and closed his mouth, continuing his stare into her eyes.

"What?" She whispered.

"Nothing." He whispered back, his eyes becoming a darker shade of blue. His voice was deeper and a little huskier than he had thought it would be.

"What did you mean by that?" Sam asked, her heart beating faster. "What do you mean you're sorry for meeting Charlotte first?"

"I… I…don't know, I just…I really like you. You're so sensitive and sweet, and… you just get me. You really seem to understand me. I mean Char, she is sweet… in her own way, but she's so competitive. When we were eight and nine years old, we both tried out for baseball, and girls weren't allowed on the team, but she tried out anyway. She got on the team and I didn't. I was beat out by my best friend. I mean… seriously… even when we have sex she has to scream louder than me." Jack babbled. He stopped after he said that, when Sam's eyebrow raised and there was an awkward silence. "Too much information?"

"Too much information." Sam replied quickly, a smile returning to her face, making him smile once again.

"I'm sorry." He said sheepishly, his smile not disappearing. "I mean… You are just...I don't know. You're perfect. I have only known you for a couple of days, but I feel like I've known you my entire life. You don't pry, you don't compete, you don't care about anything except for my happiness and that has just meant the world to me. Seriously. I told you about what happened to Matthew. If you were there with me, and I promised that I wouldn't take my pregnant sister's fiancé rock climbing, but I did anyway, what would you do? Would you push me away? Would you let me go." Jack asked, stepping forward.

"You're not the kind of guy that someone just walks away from, Jackson. You're the kind of guy that someone fights for, in order to keep. If you were mine, I would have never let you walk away…Ever." She whispered, putting her hand up to touch his face, their eyes locking once again.

After a few minutes of wonderfully uncomfortable butterflies in his stomach from just looking at her, Jack finally tore his eyes from hers. He looked down at the floor for a second, her hand was still on his face. "You are really going to have to stop doing that." He said with a shy smile, looking up at her with his eyes.

"Stop doing what?" She smiled as she reached up and ran her fingers through his hair.

"See that! See what you're doing?" He laughed. "Why is it that when I'm around you, I don't care that you do that? If anyone else did that, I would have pushed them out of the way and told them to get lost."

"Maybe you don't want me to get lost." Sam said as she turned around and walked towards the door. She pulled his cell phone out of her pocket and tossed it to him. "Here. Go call your girlfriend. I'm going to go get us something to eat and bring it up here. How about that?"

Jack caught the cell phone and smiled. "I don't know my girlfriend's phone number." He grinned.

"Ha. Funny. Call Charlotte. I'll be back. You want a grilled chicken sandwich, lettuce and tomato, no mayo, right?"

"On a…"

"Toasted bun, with fries on the side. Got it." Sam smiled at his raised eyebrows and walked out the door.

----------------------------------

Sam walked out the door and Jack tipped over backwards, bouncing on the bed with an elated grin. He frowned for a second when he thought of calling Charlotte. "Well, Katie said she didn't hang up on me." Jack said to himself. "But why wouldn't she call me back?" Jack thought to himself as he moved up to the pillow on the bed and held the phone out in front of him. "Wow… 34 messages. I think they got their point across." He says out loud. He scrolls through the numbers in his phone and he laughs when he noticed that Sam had programmed her cell phone number in it. He laughs to himself as he dials her number.

"Funny." Was all she said when she answered, hanging up on him with a laugh.

He laughed to himself and looked through the directory again and finds Charlotte's number. The phone rings three times and someone answers.

"Charlotte's phone." The man says on the other line. Jack's heart jumps into his throat as he hangs up the phone quickly. He can feel his face getting more red with each passing second as he throws the phone across the room, smashing it. He lies on the bed and stares at the ceiling, his anger growing.

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Sam walks downstairs and her phone rings. She picks it up and looks at the number. She laughs to herself at the nickname across the top 'Bubbles'" She giggles, wondering how his sister came up with that. She picks up the phone. "Funny." She giggles and hangs up quickly. She looks at her phone "Wow, 34 messages." She says to herself. "My mother is going to kill me." Sam mumbled. She walked towards the hotel restaurant as she dialed her mother's number.

"Dr. Grossman." Addison answers

"Mom!"

"ANT! Where the hell have you been?" Addison screams over the phone in concern.

"Don't worry, mom. I'm ok. I'm with Mitch, we're in Michigan, we'll be home soon."

"You were supposed to be home two days ago. I told you that you shouldn't have had him drive you!" Addison scolded, relief in her voice.

"It's ok Mom, we're having fun. We just got sidetracked a little. I'll be home in a day or two. It's my summer vacation, where else do I have to go?" Sam giggled.

"Alright sweetheart. Just please be careful. Call me now and then, please? I have a consult, so I'll probably be gone when you get home. Tell Mitch to drive carefully and I'll try to be home as soon as I can." Addison said with a smile.

"Don't worry, he's taking good care of me. I'll make sure I call when I get home. Don't worry about me, ok?" She said with a smile.

"You're my baby, I'm always going to worry about you. Behave yourself." Addison replied.

"Always." Sam replied. "Love you."

"Love you back." Addison replied.

Sam flipped her phone closed and smiled as she walked into the restaurant and up to the counter. She ordered the food and leaned against the counter to wait for it.

"Hey Boston bound." A man's voice comes from behind her. She frowns and rolls her eyes as she turns around.

"What do you want?" She said rather gruffly.

"Lose the loser?" He says with a grin.

Sam turned around slowly and scowled at the man. "Excuse me?" She says defensively as the man stepped closer. Sam turns around and leans on the counter again. He walks up to her and stands close enough to her that he's almost touching her.

"I asked you if you lost the loser." He says, breathily in her ear.

"First of all, watch your mouth when you talk about my friend, and second of all, if you'd like to keep all of your body parts in the correct places, I would suggest that you take a step back." Sam says with a scowl as she is handed the styrofoam containers with their dinners and backs up to walk out the door. She walks towards the door and sees the man standing there at the counter, watching after her.

She is relieved that he continues standing there and quickly leaves the restaurant, walking quickly across the parking lot towards the hotel. She looks around and doesn't see anyone, but she suddenly feels very anxious as she picks up her pace. She walks by a few cars, and suddenly someone jumps out and grabs her from behind. She drops the food containers on the ground and immediately begins to struggle. "JACKSON!" She screams as soon as she feels the foreign arms around her body.

"What do you want with that Asshole, huh? Not when you can have me!" The man growls as he tries to cover her mouth with his hand. She bites down hard on his hand and he drops her as he pulls his hand away. "YOU LITTLE BITCH!" The man screams as he drops her to the ground, watching her squirm away. He reaches his hand up to slap her and Sam covers her face to protect herself. The slap never comes and when Sam uncovers her eyes, she sees Jackson on top of the man, punching him angrily as he calls for Sam to run back to the room.

"Please! Sammy! Go back to the room! I'll take care of this FUCKING ASSHOLE!" Jack yells as he struggles with the man.

"No! Jack! Just let him go. We can go back to the room. Let's just go!" Sam calls, refusing to leave his side.

"Sammy! Just go, Please!" Jack yells desperately as he pins the man to the ground.

Jack holds the man down with all of his weight and leans into his face. He gets his face so close, that the man can feel the spit flicking off Jack's lips as he talks. So close, that the man can feel the hot, seething breath coming out of this angry young man's mouth. "You listen to me, and you listen good. When I let you go, you're going to fucking run as far and as fucking fast as you possibly can in the opposite direction. Do you hear me?" Jack growled.

"You will not turn around, because if I ever so much as see your fucking face for the rest of my life, I will kill you. Do you understand?" Jack spat as he held the man at bay.

The man nodded furiously, scared out of his mind as Jack held him down. Jack looked up at Sam. "Now will you go back to the fucking room, Sammy?" He says with a half smile, the tone of his voice still filled with anger. She grabs the containers and runs towards the hotel. With her up the stairs, Jack releases the man, who stands up and runs in the opposite direction, never looking back. With the man out of sight, Jack jogged back to the room.

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Katie sat in her room alone, counting the ceiling tiles again and again, periodically looking down, talking to the babies, when the door to her room opens.

"Hey, whoever." Katie says, continuing to stare at the ceiling.

"Whoever?" Derek replied, stepping farther into the room.

Katie moved her head and looked at him. "Yeah, whoever. Whatever." Katie mumbled, staring back at the ceiling.

"You would have thought that I would have learned by now." Derek says as the rolls over the wheelchair next to the bed.

"Learned what?" Katie said, looking at him again.

"Not to bother pregnant women. Too hormonal for my taste." Derek smiled.

"Dad!" Katie said, trying hard not to smile.

"Do you want to go see him? He's not awake yet, but you can go see him if you want." Derek said, indicating the wheelchair.

"No." Katie mumbled. "It doesn't matter. I don't want to tell him about Michael. I don't want to see him like that anymore. I want him back. I want to hold him." Katie said sleepily with a grumpy frown.

"Now… don't be like that. You know he needs you right now. He loves you Katie, and he needs you."

"He's sleeping, dad. He doesn't even know that I'm there. He can't hear me." Katie said, averting her gaze.

"He knows you're there, trust me. Here, I brought you something." Derek said as he held out an envelope he had in his hand. "Your mother found them in my office." Derek said.

"Mom told me about the boats." Katie whispered.

Derek's eyes began to tear up, but he held his own. "Its ok." He said, wiping his eye with his sleeve. "Look inside the envelope." Derek said.

Katie opened the envelope carefully and pulled out several pieces of construction paper. Colored on each one was a different picture, drawn crudely by a child's hand. "These are Matt's pictures." Katie said, her eyes brightening as she looked up at Derek.

"Yep, he colored those when you were in the hospital. Do you remember them?" Derek asked.

"Of course I remember them!" Katie said. "I haven't seen these in years!" She smiled. "See this one here." She explained, showing him one of the papers. "I remember this one. It's of he and I in a boat. He promised that he would take me for a boat ride. I remember that." Katie smiled. "He promised me and then…" Katie stopped for a second and stared at the picture. She looked up at her father with a look of surprise.

"Are you alright?" Derek asked, not sure why she stopped mid sentence.

"Dad, I need to go see him now. Can you take me?" Katie asked, excitedly as she gathered the construction papers and put them neatly into the envelope.

"Sure can." Derek said, reaching his hand out for her. "Do you need me to…"

"No, I don't need a crane, thanks for asking." Katie said sarcastically with a smile.

"I was going to ask you if you needed me to get you a cup of water or something, but fine, be that way." Derek laughed.

"Oh." Katie said with a smile as she got into the wheelchair. "No Thanks." She giggled.

"And away we go." Derek said as he pushed his daughter out the door and towards the elevator.

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When Jack got up to the room, Sam was standing outside. "What part of 'get in the room' didn't you understand?" Jack snapped, half joking.

"Didn't have the key, Sherlock." Sam smiled.

"Ahh… that explains it." Jack said as he pulled the key from his pocket and opened the door.

They stepped into the room and Sam immediately tossed the two Styrofoam containers with their food onto the small table in the room, she looked down at the table for a moment and her eyes lifted slowly as she looked up into the mirror above the table in front of her.

Her eyes were immediately drawn to his reflection and his eyes were directly on hers. Her heart began to race when she saw the look in his eyes. Her body began to ache for him.

He took a step forward, never taking his eyes off her reflection and he walked up behind her. They stared into one another's eyes through the mirror as Jack carefully encircled her waist with his hands. He set his chin on her shoulder and smiled Mcdreamily at her reflection. "I'm sorry." He whispered into her ear. She turned around quickly in his arms and stared into his eyes. She put her hands on his chest and pressed her body against his.

"What do you mean, what are you sorry about?" She whispered.

"I wasn't talking to you when I said that." He whispered as he ran his fingers through her hair and pulled her mouth to his. "I was talking to Charlotte." He said as he reached down and picked Sam up, wrapping her legs around his waist as he moved backwards and fell onto the bed with her on top of him, their lips locked in a hot kiss.

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Sam straddles his body as she runs her finger through his hair, kissing him feverishly on his lips, his neck and earlobe. She reaches down with her hand as she puts her hands under his shirt and pulls it up and begins to kiss his chest. He cuddles her close, pushing her hair into his face so that he can smell her sweet scent as she kisses his body all over.

"Wait!" Jack said suddenly, stopping Sam for just a second before she continues to kiss his chest. She pulls herself harder on top of him and slides up his body, kissing his neck and ear again.

"What?" She says, feeling him move his hands all over her body, she feels weak under his touch.

"I…need you to know something." Jack moaned from her kisses as he kisses her face and lips and earlobes, listening to the cute little gasps that escape from her lips.

"What? What do I need to know?" She asked.

Sam lifted her head and looked him in the eyes. "I called, like you told me to." He said, putting his right hand up, brushing her hair from her face to get a better look at her eyes.

"And?" She whispered, dropping a kiss on his chin.

"And a guy answered. She doesn't have any guy friends, besides me." Jack said, tilting his head, his brow furrowing.

"Hmm…" Sam said, kissing his cheek. "Are you mad?"

"Kind of."

"Are you jealous."

"Maybe a little."

"Hmm…" Sam said, kissing his lips. "Does any of this have to do with what we're doing now?"

"No." Jack said, reaching up to kiss her lips.

"Ok. So, you're not kissing me, tugging at my bra strap, and giving me those baby blues because you're trying to get back at her." She kissed his nose.

"No." He said, kissing her cheek. "I would never try to get back at her, for anything."

"Ok. So I trust you." Sam said. "Do you know why?"

"No." He said softly.

"Because… I think… that I may… be…" Sam starts, her eyes avoiding his, staring at his lips.

"What? Do you think you're falling for me, Sammy?" Jack smiled, his eyes twinkling.

"Maybe." She said shyly.

"Say it."

"No." She giggled.

"Then I don't believe it." Jack said, nuzzling her neck.

She giggles as he tickles her with his lips. "I think that I may be… I don't know…" She giggled.

"Say it!" Jack said, as he rolled. She rolled over and landed on his left hand. "Ow. Crap." He moaned, a look of pain crossing his face.

"What?!" Sam said, sitting up quickly. "What did I do, are you alright?" She looked down at his hand. "Jack, you're bleeding!" Sam exclaimed, sitting up quickly, climbing to the side of him. She examines the fresh blood on his bandages.

"I don't care. I just want to be with you. They don't hurt." Jack said as he tried to kiss her again.

"No, let me wrap it up again!" She says as she climbs off the bed to her bag, grabbing her first aid kit, she crawls across the bed to his arm.

"You really know how to change the mood in a room." Jack said, joking.

"Are you kidding me? I am ready to jump you right now and never stop, and from the looks of you, your libido isn't going anywhere anytime soon." Sam giggled.

"But you're bleeding, you're hurt. I need to take care of you." She whispered as she carefully unwraps the bandage and takes a look at his hand. "You made the cut open again, Jack. It looks really deep, you should get it looked at." Sam said, looking at the condition of his hand.

"I don't feel anything, it doesn't hurt. Please kiss me, please?" He murmurs, with a sad puppy face.

Sam reaches over and kisses his lips, he uses his right hand to pull her closer. "Stop!" She giggles.

"No. You were about to tell me that you were falling for me, and then you went all 'Mother Theresa' on me. How's a guy supposed to get any…?" Jack laughed.

"Get any what?"

"Supplemental love." Jack laughed. "You know… the whole, taking care of the hurt and lonely boy thing… I'm loving it… but how about a little something to supplement it."

"Are you drunk?" Sam asked as she kisses his cheek as she worked on his hand.

"Stone cold… OW! Sober…" Jack said, wincing in pain. "Careful over there, will you?" He smiled through his pain.

"If you had gotten this checked out, it wouldn't hurt so much. Is this ok?" Sam asks as she begins to swab the dried blood away from his cut.

"Your hands are soft."

"So I've heard."

"Thank you." Jack said as he watched her carefully wrap his hand.

"You're welcome." Sam replied, looking over at him.

"You don't even know what I'm thanking you for." Jack said, wincing in pain.

"You're thanking me for taking care of you." Sam replied.

"That's partly it. I'm thanking you for fixing me. For making me feel confident. For making me feel like I'm not alone. Not judging me. I'm thanking you for trusting me, for loving me, for treating me like an equal, not like a competitor. I'm thanking you for letting me defend you, help you, talk to you, love you back without asking for anything in return. Thank you." Jack said, his eyes looking directly into hers.

She reached over and kissed him on the nose. "There, all better." Sam replied, lifting his hand and kissing that too.

Jack smiled. "Yeah, all better."

"I'm hungry, let's eat and talk!" Sam said, rolling off the bed, her feet landing on the floor.

"No fair, no fair." Jack pouted.

"Hush, and eat your sandwich." Sam said, handing him his Styrofoam container with a smile. He sat up and opened it, and she slid onto the bed next to him and opened hers.

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Derek wheeled Katie down the hallway towards Matthew's room. He opened the door and wheeled her in carefully. She looked up at Derek and smiled. "He looks a little better, Daddy." Katie said, looking back down at Matt.

"Yeah, he has a little more color, and we were able to take him off the ventilator a few hours ago. He's doing better and better, sweetheart. We just have to wait until he wakes up to see if the surgery did anything for him." Derek said with a smile. "I'll let you have a little time alone with him. I'll be back in a little while."

"Ok Daddy, thank you." Katie smiled as she watched Derek slip out of the door. Katie wheeled the chair over to Matthew's bedside and stood up. "Hey butterfly." Katie whispered. "You're looking better. I like being able to say that, and mean it." She whispered, running her fingers along his cheekbone, letting her fingertip rest on his lip.

"You're such a handsome boy. I miss you." Katie whispered. "My dad gave me something that I thought that you might like. It's a few pictures that were made for me by someone really special. He was my hero when I was a little girl. He saved me when I was hurt really badly, and he saved me when I was in the hospital. I remember. I was sleeping and he was there, sitting on my bed. He was jibberjabbering about people on the playground telling him that I was his girlfriend. Which I clearly was not. I was just his friend." Katie giggles.

"He took out this pretty picture and he told me what was on it. He pointed here, and said that it was me. And he pointed here, and said it was him, and then he said we were in a boat, and that he promised that if I got better, that we'd go on a boat together, me and him. I know he kissed me that day. He kissed me right on the lips, and told me to feel better. He seemed so sad. There were so many things that I wanted to tell him, but I was sleeping and I couldn't wake myself up just yet. But I knew that I had to survive, because if I didn't, I wouldn't be able to tell him that I missed him back, and that I loved him." Katie whispered, tears in her eyes.

"I love you." Katie said as she bent over him and closed her eyes as she kissed him on his lips. She suddenly giggled and pulled away. "Hey! I don't remember him slipping me the tongue back then." Katie said as she watched a weak smile play across his lips.

"Maybe… he didn't know… what he was missing…" Matt chuckled as his eyes fluttered open.

"Hey you." Katie smiled.

"What's… with the magical kiss? Do you… think that you're princess charming or something?"

"Maybe." She giggled. "It worked, you're awake, aren't you?" She smiled.

"Ok, fine, we'll say that you did it." Matt laughed. "Your dad… thought it would… be funny."

"He knew?" Katie asked, scooping his hand up into his own.

"Yep. Do… you want to know… what else he knows about." Matt smiled slyly.

"What?" Katie asked.

"Well, let me put it this way. Do you remember… when we were younger… and we used to fight over… which of our father's was a better surgeon?" Matt asked slowly.

"Yes, and my father would always interrupt us and tell us that neither of them were, that my mother was the best surgeon." Katie giggled.

"Yeah… well… I think your dad won this round…" Matt whispered.

Katie's eyes widened in shock as she felt Matthew's fingers move slightly under the weight of her hand.

"He…he… You can…" Katie mumbled, tears springing to her eyes.

"Yep. Both of them." Matt whispered, moving his other fingers. "It hurts, but I can do it." Matt said.

"But your…"

"That will have to wait for… Dr. Lockhart… she has a … plan of attack… all ready for me…" Matt said. "I missed you." He said.

"Do it again." Katie whispered. She grinned broadly as he moved his fingers just slightly, once again. "Here." Katie said as she stood closer to the bed. She lifted his fingers to her belly, right above Ani. "Can you feel that?" Katie whispered.

He waits for a second, and she moves beneath his fingers. "That has got to be the most wonderful feeling in the world." Matt smiled. "I love you." He says, smiling up at Katie.

"I love you more", she whispered as she leaned over him and kissed his forehead.

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After they finished their meals and threw out their containers, Jack lay back on the bed in thought. Sam giggled at the movie on the television. Suddenly, the room was silent.

"Hey, what'd you do?" Jack said, looking up.

"I turned the television off, silly."

"What did you go and do something like that for?" Jack asked, rolling onto his side.

Sam rolled to her side and looked into his eyes. "You're going to tell me things."

"What kind of things?

"Any things. Tell me a story. What's your favorite movie, what's your favorite flavor ice cream. Tell me about your family."

"How about we talk about, you, Miss Nosy." Jack laughed as he poked her nose.

"No. You're the one running away from home. Tell me what makes your life so horrible. This way, when you get sad, i'm here to hold you. You know, instead of keeping it all bottled up inside that handsome head of yours."

"Flattery will get you everywhere." Jack laughed. "Ok... a story... Let me think for a second." He said as he pulled her on top of his chest. She lay her head down on his chest, listening to his heart beat as he talked, in a low even tone.

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9pm- Mercy West-

"Charlotte, what are you looking for?" Cristina asked her daughter as she walked into the lobby of the hospital, looking at her frantic daughter.

"My cell phone. I left it here his afternoon when I was waiting for you at lunch, remember. I was talking with Bill, and you came out and we talked a bit, then I… crap! I dropped my purse. It must have fallen out then!" Charlotte said as she rummaged through her purse once again.

"Bill will be here tomorrow for a second interview for that new position, I'm sure that he found it and picked it up. If I see him, I'll ask him."

"Why would he keep it? Why wouldn't he just give it to the nurses station, he knows who you are." Charlotte asked, curious.

"Haha. Someone has an admirer." Cristina laughed, looking at the disgusted look on Charlotte's face. "Come on Char, you can't be pining over Jack for too long, the kid took off."

"You know that I love him, Mom." Charlotte said as she leaned back in one of the lobby chairs.

Cristina sat next to her and leaned back. "I know you do, sweetheart."

"Do you know why I didn't meet him downstairs in the lobby?" Charlotte asked, looking at her mother with raised eyebrows.

"Why?"

"I didn't think he'd really go. I thought he'd come back. He always come back. I have left with him so many times, and every time we always came back." Charlotte said.

"Do you know the difference?" Cristina asked.

"What?"

"The difference, between all of those times, and this time."

"What's the difference?"

"The difference is, all of those times that you went with him, he had you right there by his side. You told him what to think, how to do things. You told him that you needed to be home at a certain time, or for certain things and he did all of those things for you, he always came home for you. This time, he's alone. He doesn't have you there along side him to guide him home, but he has you here waiting for him, so it may take him a little longer to find his way back home. But the most important thing to remember, is that this time, he'll be finding his own way back home." Cristina explained.

"Thanks Mom, that was sweet." Charlotte said, leaning her head on Cristina's shoulder.

"You're welcome, but don't ever call me sweet again." Cristina said seriously. Charlotte shifted her eyes up to her mother's, and Cristina smiled down at her. "I love you, don't worry so much." Cristina soothed as they sat there in the lobby, listening to the falling spring rain hitting against the windows behind them.

----------------------------------

11:00 PM - Adrian, MI

"What do you want to know?" Jack asked, looking down at her mess of dark brown curls.

"Tell me… tell me about your family." She smiled, looking up at him.

"Fine, you want to be nosey, I'll tell you about my family. My parents are both doctors."

"Hence the convertible."

"Hence the convertible." He nods.

"And the spoiled attitude."

"Hey."

"Kidding."

"Ok…So, they're both doctors and my sister, she is… about five years older than me. Her name is Katherine, she's a doctor."

"Katherine is a doctor."

"Are you going to repeat everything that I say?"

"Not 'everything'" She giggled.

"Ha, ha." He said, pretending to give her a stern look. "And…I grew up with everyone pretty close, we had a lot of family friends."

"Including Charlotte."

"Yes, including Charlotte. I have known her since the day she was born. She's actually my mother's best friend's daughter. We were always together, chasing after one another, stealing one another's food, pushing one another into the lake."

"General nuisances."

"Yes, General…Sam…."

"Sorry."

"It's ok." He chuckled.

"Tell me more about your dad. Why do you think your dad hates you so much?" Sam asked, folding her hands on his chest, setting her chin up on them.

"I don't think my dad hates me…Well…I mean…"

"Jack."

"Tell me about yourself."

"Jack."

"So, what's your father like?"

"Jack."

"Seriously."

"Seriously? My father's dead. Tell me about your father." Sam said, her eyebrows raised, her face absolutely serious.

"Oh, I'm sorry." Jack said sadly.

"Its fine, I'll tell my story, but its your turn right now. Tell me about your father. Why do you hate him."

"I don't hate him. Do you always use the word hate?"

"Ok, why do you have animosity towards your father?"

"Smart ass."

"I've heard that somewhere before." Sam looked up at him and winked. "Out with it, Bubbles."

"Fine. My parents are doctors…"

"Fast forward!"

"SAMMY!" Jack let out a frustrated sigh.

"Sorry. Go on."

"Both doctors that worked long hours, they always seemed to find time to do things with us. My sister was in an accident when she was much younger. Right after I was born actually, so I don't remember it. But she was always the favorite. She always got away with everything when we were growing up."

"Jack."

"What?"

"This could be anyone's story, can we have some details?"

"Sorry. I dunno. My father and I just always had a turbulent relationship. I have a bit of an anger problem…" Jack pauses.

"Why'd you stop talking."

"This is where you make a joke about how my anger issues are evident and I should go see a psychologist."

"I think you're fine, everyone has anger issues… You can't say that one's anger isn't always justified. I don't judge you by how you choose to deal with your stress, some people yell and scream… Some people hold it inside… some people have sex with inappropriate people… I can't judge you. Go on." She says, cuddling into him more.

Jackson pauses again.

"Jack."

"Sorry, I was just thinking…" He mumbles. "Well, you know… when I was in junior high and high school, I was always getting into one fight or another. Someone always challenged me to a fight because I was never afraid to stick up for other people."

"So… You're saying that you were fighting other people's battles?"

"No…. well… yeah, I suppose you could put it that way, but…."

"Charlotte's battles? Your sister's battles? Who were you fighting for? Was it for them, was it for you? Did it make you feel better? Why did you fight? Why didn't you talk?"

"Sammy."

"Sorry."

"No. I was going to say… I never really thought about who I was fighting for. I mean… I knew what the fight was about, usually it was someone calling Charlotte a name, or calling me a name, or just randomly treating me like crap. But I guess I never really thought about who I was fighting 'for' what I was gaining from it. No one ever asked me that before." Jack replied, wrapping his arms around her.

"What does this have to do with your father?"

"My father?"

"Yeah, I asked you to tell me about your father, and you started talking about fighting. Father, your dad, your daddy, pop pop, poppysaurus"

"Poppysaurus?"

"If that's what you called him…I'm not one to judge." Sam giggled.

"Pain in the… Ok…So, my sister was in an accident when she was younger and basically, when she got better, she was able to do whatever she wanted to do, with absolutely no repercussions."

"So you think that your sister was spoiled?"

"Yeah. She was…. Is spoiled. You heard me talking to her, that's all she kept talking about was her, and how she wanted me to be there for her, and how me doing this one thing for myself was stupid."

"You see, I'll tell you what I saw when you were talking to your sister, Jack. I saw, you telling her what you need, her telling you what she needed, and when I was brought into the equation, you flipped out."

"I did not flip out."

"You flipped out."

"I did not…" Jack looks at her and she gives him a raised eyebrow expression. "Ok, so I flipped out."

"You flipped out and you didn't look at the facts, Jack. Matt… he's alive. Katherine, she's scared to death because she's worried that Matt isn't going to be alive, she has babies on the way, she has a brother that is MIA, and you have a mother that is so scared out of her mind, that she has probably set up a missing child fund with little postcards with your picture on it. I'm not saying that you're being selfish, because your not. You're just trying to piece everything together little by little with each bend in the road."

"You don't think that I'm running away from my problems?"

"Honestly? No, I think that you're running away WITH your problems, and I think that you already know that. Now, your parents, they think that you're running away FROM your problems, and they see that as something negative, which it is. But you seem have your head pretty much screwed on the right way, I would say, so I think that you know that there is no way to escape your problems, you're just trying to find new ways of dealing with them."

"I have never met anyone like you before." Jack whispered.

"I just call 'em like I see 'em" Sam giggled. She suddenly became serious. "Where are you going, Jack?"

"Huh?"

"Where are you going? You got into your car, and you left home. You left your parents and your family and your friends and now you're out in the middle of nowhere lying on a bed with a stranger sharing your secret pain." Sam whispered. "Where are you going, Jack?"

"I don't know. When I'm with you, I don't feel angry. I don't feel alone. When you left the room, and I called Charlotte's phone and that guy answered, I was so angry… so frustrated and full of pent up anger that I didn't know what to do with myself. I threw my phone, I broke it. I… I just felt so alone. But when I talk about it with you, I feel like its not a big deal, nothing to get angry about, just relax and don't worry about it." Jack paused. Sam's face lit up suddenly as if she had an idea. "What?"

"Tell me about the accident."

"The accident?"

"Yeah, tell me what happened, I want to know what happened. I want to know why your father hurt you. Tell me about Matthew, tell me more about Katherine, just tell me… Please?" Sam asked, reaching up to kiss his lips. "I want to know what you were thinking when it happened."

"Why do you care what I was thinking?"

"Shhh… tell me." She whispered as she lay her head back down on his chest and listened to him take a big breath before beginning.

"Ok… so… Matt… is… the son of my father's friend."

"You know what, your relationships freak me out."

"Stop it, do you want me to tell you the story?"

"Yes, sorry."

"It's fine. Just listen ok?" Sam nodded against his chest as she listened. "Matthew is my father's friend's son. He and Katie have known one another since they were really young, and dad always thought of Matt as his own son. Took care of him and let him stay over, things like that, just really loved him a lot. Well, he went away for college when he was seventeen, he went over seas for medical school."

"So your whole family is a bunch of doctors?" Sam asked.

"Yeah, all except me. I'm going into veterinary school, but… let's not get into that. He went away to college and my sister completely flipped out. I remember, I was about ten or eleven years old when he left, and my sister was a terror to live with. She ended up having a nervous breakdown, she had to see a therapist, she was always crying. Once, she tried to kill herself, but I'm not going to get into that either. Ok… so."

"Killing yourself is a pretty big deal."

"Yes, but that's not part of this story, hang on… so… he came back, and long story short, he got her pregnant and engaged all in the last year. Matt is kind of a… quiet type of person, he doesn't do a lot of active things, but my sister is having twins. TWINS… I mean… I'm all for babies and families and stuff, but the poor guy just wanted to do one more thing that was mildly dangerous before he 'grew up'"

"Uh."

"Hush, I'm talking. I know, mildly dangerous turned into life threatening, whatever. But we were being very careful. We were warned not to go, Katie threatened us both, Charlotte made me promise not to go."

"You promised her?"

"Yeah."

"Bad move."

"Didn't I say hush?"

"Yep, but you love me, you said so, that means I don't have to listen."

"Hush." He smiled at her grin. "So we went climbing and Matthew's harness busted, and he fell about seventy feet to the rocks below."

"Seventy feet, ow. And you could hear him land? That must have been heart wrenching." Sam cringed.

"To say the least. I keep hearing him calling me. I keep hearing him screaming my name to help him. Every night when I go to bed, I can't help it. It haunts me." Jack cringed.

Sam reached up and touched his face. She moved her body up to his and put her lips against his. "I'm still here." She smiled. He smiled back at her. "Keep going." She whispered as she lay her head on his shoulder.

"Well… can I tell you something honestly… something that I feel very guilty about?"

"What?"

"My first thought, when Matt fell… was that Charlotte was supposed to be the one that was hiking with me that day. She was the one that was supposed to be in that harness. She would have been the one falling onto those rocks. The first thing I thought of wasn't of Matthew's body at the bottom of that cliff, Sammy. My first thought of was how relieved I was that the person that fell wasn't Charlotte." Jack confessed, tears in his eyes.

"That's natural to think." Sam said softly.

"You don't think it was selfish? You don't think that it was wrong of me to think those things?"

"No. I think that if you really love someone, that they're always going to be the first one on your mind, no matter what is happening in real life. It's only natural to feel that way. So then what happened?" Sam asked.

"You want more?"

"More more more." She mumbled as she kissed his earlobe, giggling at the little moan that escaped his lips.

"Ok, so Matt fell and I climbed down to help him. I was really scared to look at him at first. I didn't hear anything. I thought for sure that he was dead."

"How's that for a vote of confidence." Jack gave her a glance and she smiled up at him. "Got it, hush."

"Yep." He says with a chuckle. "So I pulled out my flashlight and I checked on him and he was in really bad shape, but he was still alive and concious. I made sure that he didn't move. I wrapped him up and bandaged his head as best I could. His helmet was smashed on impact, so there was quite a bit of blood, but it was mostly superficial. I put a tent around us and pressed our emergency homing device so that we could be found on the mountain."

"So you saved his life."

"Well…"

"No, seriously Jack. You saved his life!" Sam said, sitting up beside him. She straddled his body and put her hands on either side of his shoulders, looming over his face. "You can't spin it to make it seem negative now Jack. You already said it. If you hadn't been up there and you hadn't helped him, then he would be dead right now."

Jack suddenly lifted his hands and pulled her to the side, completely flipping them over so that he is now straddling her, hovering over her body. "No Sammy, you don't understand! If I hadn't taken him out on the fucking mountain, he'd be fine right now. He'd be moving around, getting things ready for his children! BUT NO! I AM A FUCK UP AND I FUCKED IT ALL UP!" Jack began to get upset.

Sam reached up with her hand and put it over his mouth. "Do NOT swear at me." She said sternly, the twinkle in her eye gone. She removed her hand and placed it on her chest, still looking him in the eyes.

His eyes went completely soft, and he could see the twinkle in her eye returning. "I'm sorry." He whispered. "I was just saying that…"

"I know what you were 'just saying'. I'm sorry that I stopped you, you were just expressing your emotions and your frustration, but I want to be honest that when you say those words to me, you're no longer charming. For those few seconds, you become a monster. I don't want you to be a monster, Jack." She whispered.

"I'll be better, I promise." He said softly as he rolls back and lifts her with him onto his chest again, where she settles comfortably atop.

"More story please. You saved his life and then what? The helicopter came?"

"Yep."

"Tell me about the helicopter ride. I want to know more of what you were thinking. I love your mind. Tell me about your father, tell me what happened." She giggled as she kissed his jaw line as she looked up at him.

He shifted a little so that her body was nestled comfortably against his and her brown eyes were beckoning his attention as he continued the story. "Ok… so as we sat on the mountain, I was freezing. I sat beside Matthew and waited for us to be located until he told me to go under the blankets with him. I just didn't think that I deserved to be saved at that point. I mean. I had practically killed the guy and he was forcing me to lay beside him under the blanket to keep warm."

"Jack, he is practically your brother, of course he doesn't want anything to happen to you. Just like you didn't want anything to happen to him." Sam said, holding his face as she spoke.

"I guess… But then he… he asked me to tell him a story, about my sister. Something to keep him warm. So I told him a story, and I told him not to fall asleep. But he couldn't help it. He was in shock, and it was cold out there. He fell asleep, and then I was alone. With him asleep I waited outside the tent for the helicopter to arrive."

"Why did you wait outside?"

"Penance. I was punishing myself."

"Jack." Sam said softly, touching the side of his face. "How did you get the scratches on your face?" She asked softly, tracing the cuts along his nose.

"That's coming up, don't worry." He said as he reached up and took her hand. "Your hands are soft." He smiled, a tear in his eye. She smiled in return as he continued his story. "The helicopter came and picked us up. We loaded as much gear as we could onto the helicopter before it left and they flew us to the hospital that my parents work at. I sat in that helicopter and I think I was in shock. I just kept staring at Matthew. He was lifeless, his face pale, the paramedics doing as much as they could while I sat there helpless and relatively unscathed. Aside from the cut on my hand from releasing the ropes, I was fine. I had some wind burn on my face…"

"Hence the rosy cheeks." Sam smiled, touching his cheek.

"Yes, yes, the rosy cheeks." Jack laughed. "But I was ok. I knew that I was going to be in trouble, there was no doubt about that, but I had no idea what the reactions would be."

"So the helicopter landed at the hospital."

"Yep. We landed and they let me off first. I went inside and the lights were so bright. When they adjusted, I could see my father standing there. There was a look of panic in his eyes like I had never seen before. His eyes were just wild with panic."

"Are they the same color as yours?"

"Yeah. Why?"

"I don't know, I'm just trying to picture what he would look like, besides, you just have the most beautiful blue eyes that I have ever seen…go on…" she giggles.

Jack looks at her for a few seconds as she giggled. "Well, you have the cutest dimple on your cheek right there… " he kissed her cheek. "but back to the story….Ok… so.. yeah, I saw my father and then I took off for the nearest garbage can that I could find. I was in awful shape. I was just sick with worry and guilt and, seriously… I don't know how I even got off the helicopter. I just… I wanted to die." Jack said sadly.

"I'm glad that you didn't die." Sam whispered.

"Yeah…" Jack said sadly.

"So what happened next?" Sam inquired, squeezing his arm with her hand as it was draped across his chest.

"My father happened next." Jack replied, his eyes darkening with the memory.

"Tell me what happened, Bubbles." Sam whispered as she cuddled to him.

"It sounds cute when you call me that. Usually when people call me that, its when they're trying to make me feel small and degraded. I don't know. I guess I'm just… I don't know…Thank you for making me feel comfortable."

"I'm here for you." Sam said softly.

"Ok… so… I was in the exam room. My father came in to ask me if I was alright. I told him that I was fine, and I confessed that I had taken Matthew mountain climbing. Me and my stupid honesty strike again." Jack says angrily. "I told him the truth, and he slapped me clear across the room." Jack said, his voice choking up at the feeling of his father's hand against his face. "My father has never hit me so hard in my entire life."

"And he shouldn't have done it then." Sam mumbled, her eyes narrowing at the thought.

"He slapped me and came after me, kicking me over and over. I mean, I had already beaten myself up pretty badly, but he really kicked the crap out of me. He swung me around the room and my mother came in. She accidentally hit me with the door when she came in. Her eyes were so hurt, so concerned. I love my mother for everything she has ever done for me, and I will tell you quite honestly that at that moment, I think I hated my father for making her hurt like that. I had pushed my father and we said some really angry things. I stood in front of my mother, I didn't want him to hurt her on accident. She has gotten in the middle of our fights on more than one occasion and gotten hurt." Jack explained.

"Your mother is a sweet woman." Sam smiled.

"Thank you, how do you know?"

"I just know." Sam smiled. Jack looked at her suspiciously. "Just go on." She giggled.

"So my father and I fought more, and I forced him to give me my keys to my car. He threw them at my face."

"The cuts." She whispered as she ran her finger over his nose.

"Yep, the cuts." He replied, reaching up to take her hand again.

"Your hands are soft." She giggled.

"That's my line." He chuckled.

"Then what happened?"

"Then I left. I saw Charlotte in the elevator. I begged her to come with me. She was so angry with me. I thought she was going to kill me. I was so upset. I begged her. I told her that I was going to go clean up, and then I was going to leave and I wanted her to come with me." Jack whispered. "I went upstairs and cleaned up, I changed into a pair of my father's scrubs and I visited my sister. She was in the hospital for evaluation, the twins are supposed to be born any day. I talked to her while she slept. I wanted to see her one last time before I left. I wanted to apologize, but I didn't know how. She didn't know about Matthew yet, and I didn't want to stress her and have her go into labor." Jack explained.

Sam remained silent as he told his story.

"Then I went downstairs and I waited a few minutes. I prayed that she would be down there, that she would meet me there. I told her that if she didn't meet me down there, then I would know that she doesn't love me. You know, it was my way of having her be able to free herself from me without having to see the pain in my eyes." Jack explained.

"She didn't show up." Sam said softly.

"Nope. She didn't show up…. She… she didn't…" Jack began to cry. "So I went to my parents house to get some of my things, and to kill what ever memory my father may have had of me." Jack cried.

"Kill the memory?"

"Yes. Squash it dead." Jack said, his face contorting to an angry sneer as he spoke those words.

"What does that mean?" Sam asked, seeing the look on his face.

"Well, I went into the house and gathered my suitcase with some clothes. I threw as much stuff as I could into the couple of bags that I had and I brought them out to the car. When I opened my trunk I saw my baseball bat. Charlotte and I used to go to the batting cage now and again to pass the time, and it was there. I took the bat out and went into the house." Jack explained.

"What did you do?" Sam exclaimed.

"Growing up, I used to build these model boats. I had made one for my father for every Christmas, birthday, father's day since I was eight years old. There were so many boats. My father kept them in his study, and they were his most prized possessions." Jack said.

"You didn't." Sam said as she cringed, imagining what he was about to tell her.

"I did." I crushed each and every one with my baseball bat. I am serious Sam. I was so angry that I was lucky that a person didn't walk through that door. I probably would have smashed them too." Jack explained.

"You broke all of them?" Sam's eyebrows raised.

"Almost all of them. The only boat that my father doesn't keep in the open is the first one we built together. He keeps it locked in his cabinet under a glass case to protect it from dust. I unlocked the case and pulled it out and set it on my father's desk."

"Jack!" Sam gasped.

"I couldn't do it." Jack explained. "I couldn't. It wasn't mine to destroy. It wasn't my place to do that to him. I realized at that point that… you can't erase a memory. You can't control it. Just like I couldn't control the feelings that were running through my body and my mind, I wouldn't be able to control my father's memories, I couldn't erase myself. I stood there with the bat over my head. Poised to come crashing down on the innocent, fragile boat and I just couldn't bring myself to do it. I realized right then and there, that I wasn't angry at my father. I was angry with myself. I hated myself."

"Jack…" Sam said, kissing his cheek.

"No, I did. I really seriously hated myself, and I didn't think that I would ever be able to find a place where I didn't feel that way about myself. Then I found you."

"I am pretty sure that I found you." Sam smiled.

"Ok, you found me. And I like that."

"I like that too." She said as she snuggled close to him. "I'm tired."

"Me too, let's get to bed, we've been talking for a while now." Jack said softly as he started to get up.

"Where are you going?" Sam asked with a sad face.

"We've got two beds, so that each one of us can have one. You don't want me over here with you. You know, I might take advantage or something." Jack said with a sly grin.

"No you won't, I wouldn't let you." She laughs. "Come lay with me. Sleep next to me, be with me, love me." Sam mumbled.

Jack slipped down to his boxers as he got ready for bed. He watched her watching him get undressed. "I'll sleep next to you, but you have to be a good girl."

"I'll be a good girl, I promise." Sam said as she slipped under the covers and patted the spot next to her and smiled. Jack turned the light off and walked over and climbed into the bed beside her. He covered himself with the blanket and pulled her into his arms. "Sweet dreams, Bubbles." She mumbled sleepily.

"Sweet dreams, Sammy." Jack replied as he began to drift off. Just as he was about asleep, he mumbled something.

"Huh?" Sam said softly, wondering if he was talking in his sleep.

"I said, cookies and cream." Jack replied. "You asked me what my favorite flavor of ice cream was." Jack said sleepily.

Sam smiled brighter and wrapped his arms completely around her body, completely melting into them. "You're perfect." She mumbled as she drifted off to sleep.


	58. Chapter 58 Truth

7 AM- Mercy West-

Charlotte walked into the doors of the hospital and made her way immediately to the waiting room.

"Charlotte." A man's voice caught her attention. She turned around at the sound of his voice.

"Bill! I came because I needed to ask you, did you…"

"Find your cell phone? Yeah, here." Bill says as he pulls the phone out of his jacket pocket. "I would have dropped it off at the nurses station, but I didn't want to give up the opportunity to see you again." He smiles.

Charlotte smiles politely and takes the phone in her hand.

"Oh, someone called yesterday and I answered it. Whoever it was hung up." Bill said as he looked at Charlotte curiously as she scrolls through her phone calls.

"Crap." She mumbled.

"What's wrong?" Bill asked.

"Nothing, its just my boyfriend. He is the one that called, you answered, he's probably totally getting the wrong idea. He's a real 'jump to conclusions' kind of guy. Sometimes I tell him that his name should be 'Misterunderstood'." Charlotte laughed nervously.

Bill laughed as he watched the anxious look in Charlotte's eyes. "Are you alright?" He asks politely.

"Huh?" She says looking up. "Oh, yeah, I'm fine. Thanks for my phone, I have to make a stop somewhere and then I have to get to Seattle Grace to check on a friend. Thanks again for the phone." Charlotte says, a little flustered.

"Have a nice day."

"Yeah, you too!" Charlotte calls over her shoulder as she rushes out the door to her car.

************

May 13th, 2032

7:30am- Derek and Meredith's house-

Charlotte pulls up the driveway slowly and notices that there is another car in the driveway. She gets out of the car just as Meredith walks out of the house towards her own car.

"Charlotte? What are you doing here, sweetheart?" Meredith asked, walking over to Charlotte.

"I don't know. I um… I just have been going up to the lake, you know… in the mornings to think. You don't mind, do you?" Charlotte asked softly.

"No, of course not! I understand. Are you doing alright?" Meredith asked, putting her hand on Charlotte's shoulder.

"Yeah, I'm… I'm doing alright. I just… I…"

"I miss him too." Meredith said as she pulled Charlotte into a hug. "Are you coming to the hospital later?"

"Yeah." Charlotte replied.

"Ok. Addison is going to be there with Katie, to check on the baby and Katie may need someone to talk to if you're up to it."

"You guys are my family, of course I'm up to it." Charlotte smiled.

"Well, I have to get to the hospital, I had to pick up a few things here this morning. I'll see you soon, sweetheart."

"Yep, thanks Mer." Charlotte said as she turned and walked towards the path. She turned and waved to Meredith as she pulled out of the driveway.

Charlotte walked briskly through the woods as she turned the corner on the familiar trail to the water. She stopped for a second, staring at the boat, thinking that maybe this was stupid, maybe sinking his boat was just not right. It was a gift, he poured his heart and soul into that boat. He loved her enough to give her his most prized possession.

"He left." Charlotte whispered as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. She bent over and picked up another large rock. She slowly placed the rock into the boat and watched as the boat sunk farther down into the water, trickles of water dropped into the boat as the rim neared the surface of the water. She took in a deep breath and released it, wiping the tear from her eye as she turned around and ran back to her car.

*****************************

7:30 AM- Adrian, MI-

"Buuuuubbbblllleeeesssss" Sam mumbled into Jackson's ear.

"Sleepy time, Sammy." Jack replied, grabbing her quickly with her giggling the whole time.

"Jackson…" she mumbled as she rolled out of his grasp.

"Samadoodle"

"Samadoodle?"

"What? I don't know what Sam is short for."

"Ha. Funny. Get up!" She said as she sat up beside him and pushed on him.

"You're bossy."

"But you like it, right?"

"Right, keeps me in line." Jack said.

Sam giggles and turns around to get off the bed. She slips off the bed and turns around. Jackson has covered himself up completely with the blankets and the pillow over his head. Sam gets onto the bed and begins to jump. "Jack… son… get…. Up… Jack… son… get… AHHH!!!" She squeals when he reaches out from under the blanket and pulls on her leg, laughing as she lands in a heap next to him in a fit of giggles.

"Ok, ok… I'm up…" Jack laughed as he started to crawl out from under the blanket. He crawls up to her and leans over. "A good morning kiss." He whispers as he kisses her lightly on the lips. He then rolls off the bed and grabs a towel from the rack. "I won't be too long."

She lay on the bed following him with her eyes, a grin on her face. "I'll be waiting." She giggled.

***********

May 13th, 2032- 8:15

"Hey…." Meredith whispered to her sleeping husband on his couch in his office. "Derek…." She whispered as she poked at him. "Derek." She said in a regular voice, at this point not caring if she startled him or not.

"Huh? No… its sleepy time." Derek mumbled when he sees his wife's face above him, trying to wake him up. He reaches up for her arm and attempts to pull her down on the couch with him. "Snuggle. Its sleepy time." He mumbled into the pillow under his head as he let go of her hand.

"Derek. I'm leaving you." Meredith said sternly.

"What?" Derek said, sitting bolt upright on the couch.

"I'm leaving you to get up by yourself." Meredith laughs as she turns and walks towards the door.

"I hate when you do that!" Derek said, a look of relief passing over his face, his McDreamy smile returning.

"Addison is going to be here soon, you have patients to check on. Get your butt up." Meredith giggled.

"I'll be out in a couple minutes. Thanks. I love you." Derek said as he ran his hand through the back of his hair and yawned.

"I love you back." Meredith said as she turned and walked out closing the door behind herself.

Derek sat there for a moment and yawned again. He looked down at his pillow and over at the door. He looked down at the pillow again and closed his eyes as he began to lower his head. "Five more minutes wont…"

"No, not five more minutes, now!" Meredith laughed from the doorway.

"How did you…?" Derek exclaimed as he sat back up quickly.

"Now…." She said sternly.

Derek grumbled as he stood up. He straightened out his lab coat and checked his hair in the mirror before walking over to the doorway where Meredith was holding the door open. He walked close to her and looked down at her. He put his hand on her cheek lightly and stuck his tongue out at her with a smile as he continued to walk through the doorway past her.

**********

May 13th, 2032- 8:30 AM-

Meredith walked down the hallway to the elevator and got onto it to take it up to the Maternity floor. She stepped off the elevator and could immediately hear the sound of two women in the middle of a heated argument down the hallway. She quickened her pace and an intense anger began to build up inside her when she saw the two of them in a near fist fight in the hall.

"I was called down here from Boston, there is no reason that I…" Addison said calmly.

"Excuse me, what is going on here?" Meredith exclaimed coming up behind the two women.

"I don't want this woman working on my grandchildren!" Rebecca argued. "I don't care how good she is, I don't like her!" Rebecca complained.

"Rebecca…" Addison said, clearly agitated.

"I am Dr. Sloan to you!"

"Dr. Sloan…" Addison started again, rolling her eyes. "I was called by Derek and Meredith to be here. I am consulting on THEIR daughter, not yours."

"You're also consulting on my grandchildren and I don't want you to have anything to do with them!" Rebecca yelled.

Meredith just took a step forward and gave Addison a hug. "Addison! I am so glad that you're here!" She exclaimed, not expecting this type of reception, but completely understanding it as she hugged her back. Meredith took a step back and wiped the tear from her eye as she turned to Rebecca. "If you don't mind, I need to talk with my daughter's doctor please."

Rebecca stood there stunned for a moment, seeing the camaraderie in both women's eyes, she scoffed and walked angrily back down the hallway.

"How is your daughter?" Meredith asked as she handed Katie's chart to Addison.

"Ant? Oh, she's doing fine. She's on her way back from school, she'll probably be home today. Classes got out last week, but she decided to have her boyfriend drive her across the country."

"Kids." Meredith stated, and Addison nodded in understanding.

"How is your son doing?" Addison asked.

"Jackson? He's fine. He's doing really well. He went on a road trip with some friends, I'm not sure when to expect him back home, but its his summer vacation." Meredith shrugged. "Have you been in to see her yet?" Meredith asked, nodding towards the door.  
"Nope, I was stopped by the troll under the bridge." Addison mumbled, not sure if she should have said that.

"Don't worry about her…" Meredith replied, "Just throw a brightly colored rubber ball down the hallway, she'll chase it." She laughed at Addison's grin. "Let's go inside." Meredith said as she opened the door to Katherine's room.

Meredith and Addison walk into the room quietly and observe Katie sleeping soundly on her back.

"She looks exhausted." Addison whispered as she takes a step forward. "Derek told me what had happened with Matthew, but I never imagined she'd look so downright exhausted." Addison whispered to Meredith.

"It's been really hard on her." Meredith whispers.

"I'd feel awful if we wake her." Addison said.

"Why don't we go get a cup of coffee and catch up a little. We'll let her rest."

"Oh… coffee, I thought you'd never ask!" Addison whispered back with a smile as she opened the door and Meredith followed her out into the hallway.

Meredith and Addison walk down the hallway together towards the elevators. The doors open, and reveal Derek standing in the back. Addison and Meredith look at one another and roll their eyes as they step in together.

"What?" He asks with an innocent laugh.

"Nothing, Derek. Don't be so paranoid." Addison responded, pretending to be annoyed.

"Where are you going? I thought you were here for Katie." Derek asked.

Meredith looked up at him and then looked over at Addison. "We're going get coffee, we're letting her sleep a little longer." Meredith replied. "How's Matt?"

"He's sleeping too. Lazy kids." Derek laughed to himself, getting glares from both women. "What?"

The elevator doors opened and Addison and Meredith stepped off together. Derek started to follow them, but Meredith turned around and put her hand on his chest to stop him. "You…. Are not invited. Go check on your patients."

"But…"

"Go check on your patients." Meredith said with a nod. Derek gave her a sad face and turned around and began to walk away.

"Now who's the chief!" Addison laughed.

"I heard that!" Derek said as he continued down the hall laughing.

Meredith and Addison sat down together in the cafeteria with their coffee and prepared the coffee the way each liked it and they sat back in their chairs.

"Wow, it has been years since we've gotten together." Meredith remarked, taking a sip from her coffee.

"Yeah, it has to be almost thirteen years since we've done something with both of our families, when you and Derek visited us out in Boston… wow…" Addison remarked. "We just don't realize how fast time is passing, being in the operating room all the time, it seems go by faster and faster. Do you realize that Ant is going to be nineteen years old tomorrow?"

"Nineteen? Already? I remember the last time we saw her, she was so little. I bet she still has those little dimples." Meredith smiled.

"Yep, still has the little dimples, but she thinks she's all grown up now, so she's off doing her own thing. Seriously, I heard from her yesterday. It was the first time in days. She insists that she's a grown up and she can do what she needs. She's grown up so fast." Addison said as she sips from her coffee.

"Well, you've done a hell of a job on your own. I had Katie alone for only five years, and it was enough for me. She was certainly a handful." Meredith replied.

"Well, you know… It just happened… He wasn't wearing his seatbelt, Ant was in the car and everything, that'll make a kid grow up really quickly."

"You've done well for both of you. You should be proud of her." Meredith sipped her coffee.

"I am very proud of her. I just miss the little girl in pigtails sometimes." Addison smiled sadly. "Your kids have grown up quickly. How old is Jackson now?"

"Twenty one. Saying it just makes me feel older." Meredith muttered.

"Tell me about it!" Addison laughed.

A comfortable silence fell as the two of them sat relaxing, drinking their coffee in thought. "I hate to bring up an uncomfortable subject, and you can stop me if I'm prying too much… but… why does Rebecca hate you so much?" Meredith inquired.

"Ah, you noticed." Addison laughed. "You mean besides the obvious?"

"Yeah, besides the 'part of Mark's past' stuff." Meredith said softly with a smile.

"Well, part of it is the 'part of Mark's past' stuff." Addison replied. "Part of it is that she's convinced that Ant is Mark's daughter. She seems to think that anything I do is an attempt to get back with Mark. Ant is most definitely her father's daughter. She has his musical talent, his eyes, his little ticks and soft, gentle personality. She just reminds me so much of him, sometimes it just drives me crazy."

"Trust me, you don't want Mark." Meredith shook her head.

"Damn straight I don't want Mark." Addison laughed. "I mean, don't get me wrong, he's a great guy and all, but I am so finished right now. Between both Mark and Derek breaking me, and Jack's death, I just concentrate on my two true love, my work and my daughter. I have my little girl, when she calls me, I have my friends and family in Boston, and my job. I don't think I could ask for any more. It doesn't bother me that Rebecca hates me. I'm glad that you don't hate me too. At least you understand that I don't want Derek."

"Trust me, you don't want him either." Meredith laughed, making Addison laugh. "Want to get up to Katie's room? She's probably awake by now." Meredith said as she stood up.

"Yep. Time to check on the little ones." Addison smiled as she stood up and the two of them walked out of the cafeteria together to the elevator.

***************

9:00 AM-

"Can I drive?"

"My car?"

"Yeah."

"You want to drive… my car…"

"Yeah."

"No."

"Why not?"

"It's my car."

"My birthday is tomorrow."

"Your birthday is not tomorrow."

"Yes it is."

"Then you can drive tomorrow."

"But we won't be driving tomorrow."

"Exactly." Jack replies, looking over at her. She continues to stare out the window, her face expressionless. "Sammy." Jack says, giving her a sympathetic look. Sam doesn't look at him, she just continues to look out the window. "Sam?" She continues to look out the window as if she hasn't heard him talking. "Samaroo?" She doesn't smile, doesn't make a move, just continues to stare. Jack begins to feel very uncomfortable as she continues to ignore him. "Fine, you can drive." Jack said as he slowed the car down and pulled over.

"REALLY?" Sam exclaimed, a huge smile spreading across her face as Jack got out of the car and walked around it. She jumped out of the passenger side and threw her arms around his neck, he caught her in midair and wrapped his arms around her. "What made you change your mind?" She giggled.

"I can't stand to see you sad." Jack said as he kissed her nose. "Now drive carefully." He says as he lifts her down to the ground and climbs into the passenger side. Sam climbs into the drivers side and pulls the seat up, flips the car top down and turns the radio on.

"Are you ready to have some fun?" She laughed.

"I guess." Jack smiled.

"Let's have some fun!" Sam laughed as she slammed on the gas hard and the two of them took off squealing onto the road and down the highway.

*************

9:15 AM-

Addison and Meredith walk up to Katie's room holding their cups of coffee as they carefully slip into her room.

"That is so not fair." Katie mumbles, seeing the cups that each are holding in their hand.

"Oh, I'm so sorry!" Addison exclaimed as she handed her cup of coffee over to Meredith. She looked at Meredith and smiled. "We should have known better than to bring coffee into the room of a pregnant surgeon." Addison laughed. She walked over to Katie and put her hand on her forehead. "How are you feeling?" Addison asked softly.

"I'm ok, tired." Katie said softly, feeling at ease under Addison's touch. "Thank you for asking." She smiled.

"It's not a problem. Let's get those little ones up on the screen so that we can see what's going on in there." Addison smiled.

Meredith's pager goes off and she looks down at it. "I am going to have to take this, sweetheart, you'll be ok, right?" She asked.

"Yep, I'm alright. You go, save a life or something." Katie laughed as Meredith rushed out of the room. "She's a hard worker, always running one place or another. I wish she knew how much I appreciated it." Katie whispered to Addison.

"I think she knows." Addison said as she prepared the ultrasound. "She is very proud of you and your brother. She's lucky to have such wonderful kids. Mine hardly calls me." Addison laughed.

"You have a daughter, right? I remember meeting her a really long time ago." Katie smiled. "You're not such a bad mom yourself. I mean… you are a fantastic surgeon and you raised your daughter on your own, that in itself is something to be proud of. How old is she now, she has to be in her teens. When I went to school, I hardly called my mother, don't worry, I'm sure you're always on her mind." Katie smiled.

"Thanks." Addison smiled back as she switched on the ultrasound and ran the device over Katie's belly, taking a long look at the screen. "She is going to school out in Oregon. It's a long way from home, but it's the school she wanted to go to. She's a music major, she has been playing the piano since she was four years old."

"Really?"

"Yep, she is self taught, writes her own music. She loves music."

"Wow… I never learned an instrument, I wish I had."

"She's definitely talented. Her birthday is tomorrow, I'm going to end up missing it. She'll probably get home tonight from her drive home." Addison remarked as she took notes as she looked into the ultrasound.

"She drove home from Oregon? That must have been quite the trip!"

"Yeah, she's with her boyfriend, Mitch. She wanted to see the country. Its summer, I figured what the heck, you know. Have a little adventure. She has a concert or two coming up this summer, so she wanted to do something fun."

"Sounds like fun." Katie said. She noticed the concerned look on Addison's face and began to get nervous.

Without looking at Katie, Addison could sense her tense up when she had written down a couple notes. "Just relax Katie, they're doing fine." Addison said softly.

"Are you lying? Izzie said they were fine, then she calls you. Please mean it, please tell me that they're fine and mean it. Its more stressful for me to hear a lie and know it's a lie then to hear the truth and know its bad. Please tell me the truth." Katie begged.

Addison turned around and looked Katie in the eyes. She took her hand and smiled just slightly. "Katie. They are going to be fine. Izzie told me that there was a slight abnormality and she gave me the approximate location." She points out a place on the ultrasound. "You see that there, that's the umbilical cord and Izzie thought that maybe Michael was in some kind of distress, but it appears to me that he's doing fine now. Now, there's no guarantee that there wasn't any prior distress when Izzie checked the films, he has moved around, and we won't know much more until they're born, but for now, they are both fine. The heartbeat on both twins is strong, Michael's was weakening, but it is now back to normal. You just need to get some good rest, less stress."

"That is easier said than done." Katie replied.

"I know sweetheart. It's the best we can do right now. If there are any more problems, we'll induce labor, but for now the safest place for them is where they are." Addison explained, brushing the hair out of Katie's face. "I'll be here until after they're born, I've earned some time off, and I am planning on spending time with Ant when I get home, so don't you worry, I'm all yours." Addison said softly. "You get some rest, I'm going to go find your mother to tell her the news." She said as she stood up and put the equipment away.

"Addison?" Katie called as she watched her.

"Yeah?"

"Thanks for all of your help. Thanks for everything." Katie smiled.

"No problem at all." Addison smiled as she grabbed the chart. "Get some rest, you're going to have a busy couple of days ahead of you." Addison replied as she turned and walked out of the room.

*************

10:00 AM-

"Did you say that tomorrow is your birthday?" Jack asked as he lifted his foot up to his lap and began to unlace his shoe.

"What are you doing?" Sam asks as she glances at him quickly, and her eyes go back to the road.

"What do you mean? Just answer my question." Jack replied.

"You are not taking your shoes off." Sam replied.

"Why? I'm trying to get comfortable. You wanted to drive, I get to take my shoes off."

"You don't get to take your shoes off."

"Hush." He says as he takes his shoe off and sets it on the floor in front of him.

"JACK! PUT YOUR SHOE BACK ON! GROSS!" Sam exclaims.

"Haha, you wanted to drive, you must live with the stink that is me."

"Shut up!" Sam exclaimed laughing as she plugged her nose.

"It isn't that bad. Now answer my question, did you really mean that your birthday is tomorrow?" He asks as he removes his other shoe.

"Nyes" She replies, her fingers still plugging her nose.

"Hmm… You're going to be nineteen?"

"Nyes"

"Cut that out!" Jack said with a chuckle as he reached over and took her hand off her nose and held it in his hand.

"I thought you'd never hold my hand." Sam giggled.

"I was getting around to it."

"Your feet still smell."

"Hush." He whispered as he kissed her fingertips and they fell into a comfortable silence.

******************

10:00 AM- Matthew's room-

Derek walked into Matt's room quietly and sat down in the chair beside the bed. "Hey buddy, how is your morning going?" Derek asked softly.

"Its fine. I hate the ceiling in here." Matt replied.

"Need something to look at?"

"Yeah." Matt said, obviously frustrated.

"Here." Derek said as he carefully adjusted Matt's bed so that he could sit up slightly. He walked over to the television set that was on a brace that came up over the bed and placed it just in view.

"I don't want to watch television." Matt said, looking at Derek.

"I'm not done yet." Derek said with a smile. Derek then went to the drawer in the room and pulled out a roll of medical tape. He took a small piece off and held it between his fingers as he took his other hand and pulled his wallet out. He shuffled through a few things in his wallet and raises his eyebrows when he finds what he's looking for. He pulls out an old photograph, the edges wrinkled and torn, but the image was still very clear. Derek took the photograph out and carefully taped it to the television set with a satisfied grin and sat on the edge of Matt's bed.

Matt looked at the photograph and back at Derek, and his grin grew wider. "That's the most beautiful thing in the world." Matt smiled.

"You bet she is." Derek said as they both admired the photo of seven year old Katherine, a grin across her face and a little purple party hat upon her head, with her arm around her best friend in the world. "Is there anything else you can get for you?" Derek asked.

"I don't know Derek, I already owe you so much." Matt replied.

"You don't owe me a thing. Just take care of her forever, and you've done the job."

"I will. I promise." Matt replied.

"I know. You always have."

**************************

10:30 AM-

"Hey, pull in there." Jack exclaimed when they came into sight of a small shopping mall in the distance. "I want to see if they have something!" He said happily.

Sam looked over at him and he was beaming. "You know, this is the happiest that I have seen you on this trip." She smiled. "It makes me happy."

"Well, its because of you. You have made me so happy." He smiled. "Here! Go here!" He exclaims pointing at the mall with one hand while trying to put his shoe on with his other.

"Ok, hold your horses." She laughs as she pulls into the parking lot and parks the car. Jack immediately jumps out. "Where are you going?" She asks.

"Come on! We don't have a lot of time!" He laughed as he started to run towards the entrance of the mall. Sam jumped out of the car and followed after him quickly.

When she caught up to him, he grabbed her hand and pulled her with him, making her giggle at his eagerness. They ran into the entrance and Jack directed her to a card shop that had gifts and greeting cards. He pulled her over to the stuffed toys and grinned. "Pick one!" He said excitedly.

"You want me to pick one?"

"Yes! It's your birthday, and I want to get you something." He smiled. "I'll get you anything you want."

Sam looked over at him and grinned. "Anything?"

"Just pick one." He said, pointing at the shelf.

"Hmm..." She giggled. "I want this one." She said as she picked up a floppy dog. "I'll call him Jacks the puppy, to make me think of you. He has your blue eyes." She giggled.

"Perfect." Jack smiled as he took her hand and led her to the cashier. They payed for the gift and began to walk out of the mall when something caught Sam's attention.

"Wait!" She exclaimed. "Its my turn to be pushy!" she giggled as she pushed him into a little booth.

"What's this?"

"It's a picture booth!" She said as she deposited a few dollars into the machine. "We get four pictures. Two funny ones and two serious ones." She explained. "Ready?" They both smiled at the camera as the picture was taken. Then they made silly faces. The third picture was of other silly faces. And just as the fourth picture was going to be taken, Jack took her face in his hands and looked deeply into her eyes. The camera flashed, and that image was embedded into a memory, a memory that neither of them knew would become so important.

The pictures printed and Sam chose the two pictures that she wanted, smiling at her selection as she handed Jacks his. They then made their way out to the car in a comfortable silence, hand in hand.

**************************

11:00 AM-

Charlotte entered Katie's room and sat down gruffly in the chair beside the bed. "What's with you?" Katie muttered as she flipped through the channels on the television.

"What do you think?"

"Jack?"

"Ass… Jackass"

"You love him, I know, it's a sickening thought, but you do." Katie said as she continued to flip through the channels.

"I hate him."

"That too."

"I love him, and I could kill him and I'm sinking his boat." Charlotte cringed.

"You're what?" Katie asked, turning her attention to Charlotte, switching off the television.

"I'm sinking his boat."

"You're sinking…"

"His boat…"

"His fishing boat? The wooden one? The one that he gave to you for your birthday…. You're sinking it?"

"Sinking it."

"Why?"

"Because I love him."

"Makes sense. I'm hungry."

"Me too."

"Let's get something to eat, and you can tell me why you're sinking my brother's boat."

"It's my boat."

"Ok."

Charlotte helps Katie into her wheelchair and the two women head down to the elevators to go to the cafeteria. The elevator doors open to reveal Derek and Addison talking and laughing about something. They both smile when the girls enter the elevator.

"Hey guys." Derek smiled upon seeing his daughter and her friend entering the elevator.

"Hi." Katie smiled.

"Where are you guys heading to?" Charlotte asked from her spot behind Katie's wheelchair.

"He lives here." Katie giggled.

"Funny." Derek laughed. "We're heading up to my office for lunch. Your mom is in surgery for a little while, and told Addison to babysit me." Derek smiled.

"Why don't you try working?" Katie giggled again.

Derek looked over at Addison. "Do you see what I have to put up with?"

"Don't look at me, I think you deserve it." Addison smiled and winked at Katie, who returned a giggle. "Where are you two heading?"

"Cafeteria." Katie replied. "Char's going to explain to me why she's sinking Jacks' boat.

"You're sinking his boat?" Derek asked, alarmed.

"It's my boat." Charlotte responded.

"Well, in that case…" Derek responded as the elevator doors open. Charlotte rolls Katie out of the elevator, they turn around to say goodbye. "You two behave." Derek said quickly.

"We will." Katie and Charlotte responded, waving as the elevator doors closed.

Once the elevator doors closed, Addison looks over at Derek. He's pinching the bridge of his nose between his fingers, closing his eyes tightly. "If you need to talk, we can talk." Addison said.

"What makes you think I want to talk about something?" Derek asked, looking over at her.

"I don't know, maybe it's the look on your face, maybe it's the way you're rubbing your eyes. All I know is that there's something on your mind, and if you need to talk about it, then I'm here." Addison replied.

"Thanks." Derek responded. "I may take you up on that offer." He smiled as the elevator doors open and they step off.

*****************

12:00pm-

"Do you want to stop for lunch?" Sam asked as they drove through another town.

"Sure. What's your pleasure?" Jack asked as he stretched out in his seat, putting his feet on the dashboard.

"Ha. Don't tempt me, Jack." Sam replied with a sly grin. "How about here?" She asked, indicating a little diner that they were coming up on.

"Sure." Jack replied, looking at the place, his heart skipped a beat. "Hmm… Maybe not." Jack replied.

"Why not?" she asked as they pulled into the parking lot.

"I dunno, it… it looks too familiar. I'm not really that hungry." Jack mumbled.

Sam stopped the car in a parking space and gave him a raised eyebrow expression. "No, I'm hungry, we're eating, get out of the car please."

"You're being pushy, I don't like pushy." Jack pouted.

"You're being cryptic, why don't you want to go in? What do you mean by it being too 'familiar'?"

"You're asking too many questions."

"You're not answering them."

"Can we go somewhere else please?"

"Yeah." Sam said as she began to pull out, a look of frustration across her face.

"No no… wait, we can eat here." Jack said softly, feeling guilty for making her upset.

Sam stopped pulling out and looked at him. "Oh, so now you want to go here?"

"Yeah. It's ok, you're right. I'm hungry, you're hungry, let's go eat together." Jack smiled slightly as he watched her hands on the steering wheel as she pulled the car back into the parking space and puts it into park.

"Ok, spill."

"Spill? Spill what?"

"Why don't you want to go here? Come on, no secrets."

"No secrets?"

"Nope. You show me yours, and I'll show you mine."

"I thought that we…"

"Jack. Don't change the subject." Sam said with a sly grin.

"Fine, let's go in, and I'll tell you some secrets, but you have to tell me a secret too."

"Ok." She smiled as she reached up to push the button to put the car top up. Jack reached out and took her hand and kissed it, giving her a smile as he let go of it and climbed out of the car.

They walk into the diner and sit in a booth by the windows. The waitress takes their order and shuffles off to place it. Sam reaches her hands across the table and Jack does the same, fingers intertwine in the center of the table.

"Ok, so… secrets." Sam smiled. "Tell me something."

"What do you want to know?"

"Anything, tell me more about your family. I don't even know your last name." Sam smiled.

"More about my family? Well… My last name is … hey, why am I telling you secrets? I have told you way more about me, I don't know anything about you."

"You want to know about me?"

"Yes, you've kept your identity secret from me for far too long." Jack smiled broadly. "Who are you? Who is Samarama ding dong?"

"She's going to be a murderer if you call me that one more time." Sam giggled.

"Ah, you say it, but you know you love me."

"More than I ever care to admit." She whispered. She looked into his eyes and was lost for a second, clearing her throat, she continued. "Ok, so you want to know me?"

"Yes. Tell me something." Jack whispered.

"Ok… Um… I was born in Boston, my mother is a doctor, my father was a musician. They met one another through a mutual friend in New York and dated for a short time before being married. My mother had been married once before but she rarely talks about it, she said that it is a part of her life that is past and there is no sense in talking about it. I have always respected that, so we have never talked about it. I suppose its her way of saying that we all make mistakes, you know? She said that my father was the love of her life. I was born not long after they were married and spent most of my time with my father, because my mother was usually very busy at the hospital, but she always found time to see me." Sam smiled.

"I can absolutely relate to busy doctors. Both of my parents were doctors, all of their friends are doctors, I practically grew up inside the hospital." Jack replied.

"Yeah, me too. See, that's another thing that we have in common!" Sam smiled.

"Your father was a musician? What did he play?" Jack asked, giving her hand a squeeze.

"He was a concert pianist. When I was three years old, we were in the car on the way to pick my mother up for her birthday dinner, and a wrong way driver smashed head on into my father on the highway. He wasn't wearing his seatbelt and was ejected from the car and die, I was still in the car when the police arrived. I was shaken up badly, and I had some bruises from the seatbelt, but I survived the accident." Sam said sadly.

"That's awful! So you had to grow up without a father?" Jack asked.

"I grew up without a father, and technically I grew up without a mother. She was there as often as she could be, and she and I have a terrific relationship, but she wasn't around a lot." Sam replied.

"That explains why you're so mature, you had to grow up before you were ready." Jack replied sadly.

"Seriously, I don't think I am feeling more alive and carefree than I have in a very long time."

"That's because you're hanging out with a spoiled kid. I'm an immature knucklehead, its just rubbing off on you." Jack smiled.

"You're going to have to stop putting yourself down." Sam said, squeezing his hand. "Ok, I told you my story, you tell me yours. You grew up in Seattle, your parents are doctors, you have a sister that will be having twins. Tell me more. I want to know more." Sam whispered.

"More than that…?" Jack asked with a smile.

"Yeah, tell me a story about you and your dad together." Sam asked with a giggle.

Jack put this elbows on the table and rubbed his eyes as he began his story.

_A child's blood curdling scream could be heard downstairs by his father. Derek ran up the stairs quickly, tripping a little on the first step, stubbing his toe. "Ow ow ow ow!" He exclaimed as he hopped around on one foot at the top of the stairs, suddenly, he hears another scream and is wrenched back into reality as he quickly limps his way down the hallway to his son's bedroom door._

He swings open the door quickly and Jack takes the motion to be something he should be afraid of and begins to scream again, throwing his stuffed animal at him. Derek catches it as it comes towards him, and switches on the light. "Jacks. What's going on?" Derek asked as he looked at his six year old son, sitting in the middle of his bed, his blonde hair drenched in sweat, tears rolling down his eyes as he wraps himself in his blanket and continues to cry. "Jack, what's wrong buddy?" Derek said quickly as he sat on the bed and quickly scooped his son up into his lap.

"I…I … had a bad dream, daddy. When I woke up, there were monsters in here, and I told them to leave, I told them, but they wouldn't listen…They said they were going to eat you and mommy, and then they were going to eat me and I was really scared, daddy. Please, please don't let the monsters eat you and mommy!" He exclaims as he crawls up Derek and wraps his arms tightly around his neck. Derek hugs him back tightly, running his fingers through his son's thick, blonde locks.

"You don't have to worry about monsters, Jack… its ok… I haven't seen any monsters…. Daddy won't let anything happen to him or mommy." Derek sooths as his son's tears begin to subside as he holds him tightly.

"But daddy, what if they do, what if the monsters pretends they are me and then they eat you or mommy? What if that happens daddy? What if?" Jack shoots off a million questions, his concern very evident in his cool blue eyes.

"Listen, I have a plan, ok?" Derek says with a smile. You come with me into daddy's room and I'll give you something to make sure those monsters don't show up." Derek replied.

"Really?" Jack asked, his face hopeful.

"Sure thing, let's go." Derek said as he took his son's hand and led him out the door and down the hallway. They walked up to Derek and Meredith's room and Derek stopped. "Now we have to whisper in there." Derek whispered. "Mommy went to bed early, leaving daddy all alone to fend for himself downstairs, so she's in here sleeping, we have to be careful we don't wake her up." Derek said softly.

"Ok, Daddy. We don't want the monsters to get her." Jack whispered loudly.

"Nope. Let's go." He whispered as he opened the door to the bedroom and slowly slipped inside. He smiled at the 'lump that is Meredith' on the bed, spread across Derek's side of the bed, just so he'll have to wake her up in order to get into bed,  
snuggled in her blanket with a light smile on her face.

"Daddy?" Jack whispered.

"Yes?"

"Mommy sleeps pretty." Jack giggled.

"Yes she does." Derek smiled as he rummaged quietly through the drawer next to his bed and pulls something out. "Here, I got it, let's go." He says as he tiptoes out of the room, Jack follows behind him, tiptoeing his way out of the room too. Derek carefully closes the bedroom door and walks across the hallway and sits down on the floor. Jack slips carefully into Derek's lap and looks curiously at what he has in his hand.

"That's a flashlight, silly." Jack giggled, looking curiously at the flashlight.

Derek smiled slyly and holds up the flashlight. "Nope, this isn't just any flashlight." Derek says with a serious look.

"No?" Jack's eyes widen in wonder as he looks at the flashlight.

"Nope, it's a super-duper-monster-squashing-mommy-daddy-and-jacks saving laser beam." Derek says holding the flashlight out to his son.

"WOW!" Jack exclaims as he holds his little hands out to the flashlight.

Derek set it in his hands and smiled as Jack rolled the flashlight around in his hands in wonder, switching it on and off to ensure that it works. "Can I use it, daddy?" Jack asks looking up at Derek, his blue eyes happy once again.

"Yep, you keep it under your pillow, and if any monster scares you, you hit them with this laser beam, and they'll disappear!"

"REALLY?" Jack asked excitedly.

"Yep!" Jack grinned widely at the flashlight and for a couple of seconds seemed genuinely happy, but suddenly his face clouded over with concern. "What's wrong, buddy?"

"Um… I can't have your laser beam daddy." Jack said softly as he handed it back to Derek.

"Why not?" Derek asked.

"Cuz then what are you going to do when the monsters come get you, I will have the laser beam and you won't have it and then you'll get eaten. You need it so that you can protect you and mommy." Jack said as he handed the flashlight back to Derek.

"Nope, this is your laser beam. Daddy has one and mommy has one too, you don't have to worry about those monsters anymore. You take the laser beam and we'll go downstairs and get a cup of chocolate milk, and then we'll go back to bed, how does that sound?"

"Mama says no chocolate milk after bed time." Jack says, concerned.

"Mama.... is sleeping....she won't know." Derek grinned as he carefully stood up, while still holding Jacks in his arms. "Let's go get that chocolate milk." Derek smiled.

"Yeah, let's go." Jack giggled as Derek headed towards the stairs with his son.

When Jackson finished his story, with a huge grin across his face, Sam sat across from him, her expression blank. "What? I thought it was a good story." Jack said, squeezing her hand.

She pulled her hand back suddenly and leaned forward, her face had sort of a sad expression across it. "Jack. You have to go home." Sam said sadly. Tears began to well up in her eyes as she slid towards the edge of the booth seat. "I… I'll be right back." Sam said as she slid out of her seat and walked quickly towards the bathroom.

"Did I say something wrong?" Jack asked himself as he sat waiting for her to return.

He watched after her and looked around the diner. It was strangely empty for lunch time and he watched as the waitress behind the counter cut up a pie and placed it into the dessert case. He looked towards the bathroom and realized that Sam had been gone for a while. He got up quickly and walked towards the bathrooms. Standing by the woman's restroom door, he could hear someone crying inside.

He takes a deep breath and knocks lightly. "Sammy?" He says softly. "Are you in there?"

The crying stops and he hears a sniffle. "I'm not coming out." She whimpers on the other side of the door.

"What do you mean you're not coming out?" Jack asked, trying the doorknob, it is locked.

"I can't come out, I don't want to come out, I just…I … can't…" Sam cried, her voice filled with sadness.

"Did I say something that upset you? I shouldn't have told you that story, did it make you think of your dad? Are you upset about that? I'm sorry, I don't want to hurt you." Jack said, putting his hand on the door.

"Yeah… it made me think of my dad… and yeah, it made me a little sad to think about him… but… but that's… that's not it… I … just … I'm sorry, I can't come out." Sam said quickly, her voice still filled with sadness.

"You're going to have to come out sometime, Samaroni and Cheese." Jack said, trying to sound sweet. "Whenever you do, I'll be right out here to hug you." He said as he looked around at the empty diner and carefully sat, cross-legged on his side of the door.

"I… I don't want to talk about it." Sam said with a sniffle. "You can go back to the table." She said softly.

"Nope. I am staying right here until I can see you. I don't care how silly I might look, I am sitting outside this door until you come out here and give me a hug." Jack replied. "Tell me what's on your mind, please?" Jack asked.

"No." She whispered.

"Yes. Tell me."

"No."

"Sammy. I'm here, I'm listening, tell me."

"I… I… I'm selfish…" She whispered.

"Selfish?"

"Yeah. I'm selfish."

"Explain yourself, little girl." Jack whispered as he put his hand on the door. "Tell me why my Sammy is selfish."

"I'm not yours." Sam replied.

"What?"

"I… I'm not yours, I don't belong to you. You don't belong to me, we're strangers."

"We are not strangers. I have spent the past two nights with you, talking with you, sleeping next to you, holding you, crying with you. You are anything but a stranger." Jack explained.

"Jack, you need to go home. I am selfish because you are…. Seriously, you are the best thing that has ever happened to me, and I want you to stay with me. I want you to be mine. I want to hold your hand and I want to go fishing with you, and I want to be there when you decide that you want to try mountain climbing again, and I want to be there forever for you, but you don't know me, I don't know you. You're not mine, but I wish you were." Sam whispered.

"I don't need to go home. I can do whatever I want to do. I can be with you! I can!" Jack exclaimed.

"Jack. You need to go home. Your mother needs you, your father needs you… Katherine needs you, Matt needs you. They need you. Please? Don't make this harder for me. I grew up without a father. You tell me about those boats that you made for your father, you have told me about that fishing boat that you made for Charlotte, you told me about how you and your father worked together on those things, you tell me about how your daddy took care of you, how he protected you, about how he talked to you, spoiled you, held you, let you cry, let you laugh. I didn't have any of those things, but they make me so happy when you share them with me. But more importantly, they make YOU happy when you share them with me. You don't belong to me Jackson, you belong to them. You are theirs and they miss you and they love you and I'm nothing but a selfish little girl." Sam cried from her place on the floor inside the bathroom.

"Sammy, don't do this." Jack said, his eyes starting to tear up. "Please, don't cry… please? Come out here. This is killing me, Sammy." Jack begged. "Please?"

"I won't come out until you promise to go home."

"But Sam…"

"No. No 'but Sam'… promise me… promise me or else I'm not coming out."

"Sammy."

"Jackson! Don't do this to them any more Jackson, you need to go home. Promise me."

"Promise you?"

"Yes! Stop this! Just promise me that you'll go home!" Sam cried.

Jack sat there for several minutes, his hands pressed against the bathroom door as he listen to her cry on the other side. "I… I promise…" Jack mumbled.

Sam continued to cry, her sobs becoming almost inconsolable.

"Sammy. I promise."

"What? What do you promise?" She cried.

"I promise I will go home. I promise… but…"

"But what?" She sniffled.

"But I want you to come with me… Come with me back to Seattle." Jack said softly. "Please?" He begged.

Sam went silent. There was no sound coming from the bathroom as he listened carefully. No sniffling, no crying, no words, just a deafening silence.

They stayed silent for several minutes, until she broke the silence. "Stand up."

"What?"

"Stand up, please." She whimpered.

Jackson stands up and leans his head against the door. "Are you coming out?" He whispers.

He hears the clicking of the lock and lifts his head from the door as the door slowly opens. Her hand reaches out and grabs hold of his shirt tightly. "No, you're coming in." She says as she pulls him into the bathroom hard, pushing him against the wall next to the door, she clicks the lock and presses her body against his. "You're going to listen to me, do you hear me?" She asks, her brown eyes sparkling with tears.

"Yes." He whispers, a sly smile on his lips. "I'm listening."

12:00pm- Derek's office

"So you two went downstairs and had a little snack after some monster hunting. That's cute." Addison laughed after Derek told her the story of the flashlight 'laser beam'. Derek continued to laugh. "What?" Addison laughed. "Am I missing something?"

"That's… not even the best part of the story." Derek laughed as he wiped the tears of laughter from his eyes.

"Why? What happened?" Addison laughed.

"Well, we had our chocolate milk downstairs, and I brought him upstairs to bed and tucked him back in. He was all snuggled in his bed, with his flashlight 'laser beam' under his pillow, and I went to bed. I was just about asleep, when suddenly I heard this awful scream come from the hallway."

"Oh my God! What happened?" Addison asked. "It can't be too bad, if you're laughing."

"Well…" Derek chuckled. "I ran out into the hallway, Meredith was right behind me, and Katherine comes flying down the hallway with her hand on her head, she had a cut right above her eye. Apparently… she thought it would be funny… to go into Jackson's room with a blanket over her head to scare him… Unbeknownst to her, he had his 'laser beam.'

"He didn't…." Addison chuckled.

"He did… apparently, I failed to mention to him, that he was to turn the flashlight 'on' to kill the monster, instead… Katie walked in to scare him and he threw the flashlight at her, hit her right on the head." Derek is laughing hysterically.

"Derek. Your daughter was bleeding from the head, and you're laughing?" Addison couldn't help but laugh.

"Oh, she was fine…Meredith took care of Katie, and I ran into Jackson's room, he was so proud of himself for killing the monster…" Derek continued to laugh. "He…he… had no idea that it was Katie…"

"What did you tell him?" Addison asked, her laughing beginning to calm.

"We told him he killed the monster." Derek shrugged. "Katie never tried to scare him again, and I taught him the right way to use the 'laser beam'." Derek laughed.

"What I wouldn't do to make the kids little again…." Addison smiled, looking up at the ceiling in thought.

Derek could see the worry in her eyes. "Hey, are you ok, Addy?"

Addison sat up and looked at the concern in his eyes. "Yeah, I'm fine. I'm just going through a 'moment'… you know…. Where you realize that things are going by way too fast, and you just wish that you can pause… for just a second, you know? I just want to pause. Our lives have all been just so busy that I feel like I've lost something along the way. I mean… its to the point where a vacation, just wouldn't suffice, it wouldn't do anything for me… I need more than a vacation." Addison laments, looking up at the ceiling.

"You want to retire?" Derek asked.

"I don't know what I want, Derek. All I know, is that… My baby is growing up, my time is never my own, and I feel like I'm stuck in an airtight room, with a vacuum that is always on, constantly sucking the life out of me." Addison responded.

Derek sat in silence, knowing exactly what she was talking about and at the same time having no idea what to say about it.

But I want you to come with me… Come with me back to Seattle." Jack said softly. "Please?" He begged.

Sam went silent. There was no sound coming from the bathroom as he listened carefully. No sniffling, no crying, no words, just a deafening silence.

They stayed silent for several minutes, until she broke the silence. "Stand up."

"What?"

"Stand up, please." She whimpered.

Jackson stands up and leans his head against the door. "Are you coming out?" He whispers.

He hears the clicking of the lock and lifts his head from the door as the door slowly opens. Her hand reaches out and grabs hold of his shirt tightly. "No, you're coming in." She says as she pulls him into the bathroom hard, pushing him against the wall next to the door, she clicks the lock and presses her body against his. "You're going to listen to me, do you hear me?" She asks, her brown eyes sparkling with tears.

"Yes." He whispers, a sly smile on his face. "I'm listening."

"Good." She says, her lips inches from his, her eyes staring into his. "You can't do this, Jack. You can't just whisk me across the country to be with you. You can't do that Jack. You can't just decide that what you have is crap, and just pick up a new life like that, its selfish. Its selfish, and its wrong, and you won't do it, you can't do it. You can't do this to Charlotte, you can't do this to your family. I am not the love of your life, Charlotte is. She is the one that has been with you your entire life, she has seen every bump and bruise you have ever gotten, she has been the one that you have taught, grown with, learned from, not me. She is the one for you, not me. I'm just me. I'm just a girl that you met on the roadside that has no one, I will find my way, but you know yours, you know who needs you." Sam rambled.

"You don't need me?" Jack's hurt expression was breaking her heart.

"Jack, listen." Sam said as she released her grip on him. "This thing, between us. This little fling… or whatever it is… that's all it is. You, are trying to find yourself. You are trying to move on, when what you really need to be doing, is contemplating the things you want to change about you, not change the feelings for those around you. You love Charlotte, don't you?"

Jack paused for a second, still looking deeply into her eyes. "Yeah… I love her, but I don't know if she loves me, anymore." Jack confessed.

"That's not the point, the point is, that you love her. Jack, I feel guilty beyond measure, because I know that if I didn't come along, if I hadn't asked you that morning to take me home, you would have turned around, and you would already be home with your family, safe and sound and you would be with Charlotte, you would be holding Matthew's hand as he went through the pain, you would be helping your sister with the babies, Jack… if I hadn't come along…"

"No… Sam. If you hadn't come along, I'd probably be dead."

"Don't say that. Don't you dare say that!" Sam exclaimed, pushing his chest with her hand.

"It's true. I'd probably be dead. You are like a breath of fresh air. You saved me and there is nothing that you can say that would make me think otherwise. You have absolutely no reason to feel guilty. I am the one with the issues; you were there to listen to them. I told you before Sam, this isn't a fling… this is not something that I am doing to get back at Charlotte…I truly think that I am falling…." Sam immediately puts her hand over his mouth.

"Jack. Stop, right there. Stop and don't say it. You can't say that, it isn't fair, and I'm not going to be with you in the morning, and if you say it, then its out in the open and you've said it and then there's no taking it back. You can't take it back if you say it, and when you go home… and you will go home… you will have that on your mind, and you won't be free of it, Jack. You can't just say things and expect them to go back to the way they were before." Sam replied, giving him a warning glance, melting in his cool blue gaze. She carefully removed her hand from his mouth and he stared into her eyes.

"…in love with you." He said with a smile, his eyes twinkling. Before he could say anything else, he felt the sharp pain of Sam's hand slapping him across the face. "Ow! What was that for?"

"Did you even hear a word that I just said?!" Sam exclaimed.

"Yes! Jesus! That hurt!" Jack exclaimed as he rubbed his face, giving her a hurt expression.

"Oh! I'm sorry… I… Goddamn it Jack! I told you not to say it!" She exclaimed as she gently rubbed his face to make sure that he was alright.

"But Sam, I meant…" He paused, seeing her raise her hand again. "I meant… to… ask you why you don't feel that way about me."

"I do…no… what I mean…I don't know… I mean…Jack, I have always been alone, I think I'm supposed to be alone, that is just who I am. Seriously Jack… Look at it this way. An orchestra is an ensemble of music made up of dozens of instruments, each complimenting the next, playing together to form an unforgettable masterpiece. Jackson, you are like a violin in the orchestra. You have so many connections, people waiting for you, thinking about you, caring about you, loving you. Without them, your violin is hollow, empty sounding, not that full bodied sound that you need to survive. Now me, I… I am a piano… A piano, is a beautiful instrument, it can play 88 different notes, a piano is an instrument of the heart, the soul the mind and it…in its own right can be its own orchestra. That is where I am, Jack… I'm alone… but that's alright, because that's how I do my best work." Sam smiled.

"Doesn't an orchestra have a piano in it?" Jack asked.

"Ok, I think you're reading into the analogy a little too much." Sam replied with a grin. "Let's go eat, before they start to think we left. We have plenty of time tonight to continue this conversation, ok?" Sam said, touching his face. "I'm sorry that I slapped you."

"I'm not." He smiled as he snuck a quick kiss on her lips, unlocked the door and slipped out, leaving her standing in the bathroom, a small smile passing over her lips as she cleans up to join him for lunch.

Sam walked out of the bathroom, her eyes still a little red from crying as she made her way to the table. She watched as Jack eyed her and reached across the table stealing her French fries. She tilted her head to the side slightly as she reached the table and he shoved a handful of fries into his mouth.

"That is disgusting." Sam said as she sat down.

"My middntt mant tem to get cold." Jack says with his mouth full.

Sam reached across the table and pinched his cheek. "That's disgusting too." She laughed. He laughed as he swallowed the French fries and smiled as she picked up his sandwich and took a bite.

"Hey…" He gave her a playful look.

"Hey what, tit for tat, you ate my fries, I get a bite of your sandwich."

"Tit for what?" Jack laughed.

"Shut up." She giggled as she sat down and began to eat her lunch.

2pm-

Meredith is walking down the hallway and peeks into the OR 1 gallery. She sees that someone is performing surgery and is curious, having not seen anything on the board. She opens the door and walks in and peeks down and sees her husband busily performing a craniotomy. She smiles as she watches the fluid motions of his hands moving around the brain of the patient and notices as he stops for a moment. He stands there for a couple seconds, not moving, not doing anything, just staring down. "Is he hesitating?" Meredith pondered as she watched him resume the surgery.

She watches for several more minutes and he pauses again, hesitating longer. She walks over to the intercom and switches it on to hear the action going on in the operating room. He doesn't have any music playing… nothing… just the sound of monitors and nurses scrambling as he again continues the surgery. She watched for several more minutes and it happened again, this time, he took a step back. Meredith pushed the button on the intercom. "Derek." She said softly, her voice filled with concern.

Derek looked up, she could see the look of fear in his eyes.

"I'll be right down." She says into the intercom, turns it off and takes off running to the operating room.

*****************************

Meredith rushed down to the surgical floor and read through the chart of the patient and was briefed while she scrubbed in. Derek stood in the operating room, his eyes held a look of anxiousness as he watched her scrub in. She glanced up at him now and then as the scrub nurse helped her with her mask and she quickly made her way into the operating room.

Neither of them spoke of the incident. "Let's have a little bit of music." Meredith suggested as she got to work, periodically looking up at Derek in support. He directed her where he needed to, but for the most part kept quiet as Meredith finished the surgery, not a personal word passing between them. Their eyes did all the talking that was needed. When the surgery was concluded, they entered the scrub room together.

They scrubbed out in silence, Derek ripping the gloves from his hands in frustration. "Derek." Meredith whispered.

"I don't want to talk about it." Derek snapped as he turned and angrily stomped out of the scrub room.

Meredith followed him out of the scrub room, moving fast to keep up with him. "No, you will talk about this." She said as she grabbed the back of his lab coat.

Derek swung around, his face full of anger and frustration, his eyes soften when they meet hers. "Meredith, I don't want to talk about it, now. We can talk about it later. I… I just need a little bit of time, can I have that?" Derek asked, his eyes pleading.

"Derek. I just need you to tell me what happened." Meredith argued.

"No. I need to figure out what happened first. Once I figure it out, I promise that you'll be the first one that I tell." Derek said, stepping forward, he kissed her. "I have some things to do, I'll catch up with you a little later." He then turned and quickly walked back down the hallway.

***************

3pm-

"Where are we?" Sam asked sleepily as she shifted in her seat and looked up.

"Michigan." Jack said, seriously.

"MICHIGAN? YOU'RE GOING THE WRONG WAY!" Sam exclaimed as she jumped up in the seat, looking around frantically.

"Nope, I'm going the right way, I'm taking you home with me." Jack said smiling.

"No! You can't kidnap me! You can't just drag me home with you against my will!"

"Then go willingly." Jack said simply.

"No… I don't want to go willingly. Turn around." Sam said, pouting.

"Nope. You're going home with me."

"Oh." Sam said, seemingly giving up, she looks out the window and settles back in the seat.

A comfortable silence falls between them as Sam watches the trees pass out the window along the highway.

"Sam?"

"What?"

"We're in New York State."

"What?"

"I didn't turn around… but… thanks for agreeing to come home with me." Jack grinned.

Sam turned to him and gave him a fake angry look. "I didn't agree with you, I was waiting for you to pass a grassy shoulder so that I could jump out of the car!" Sam argued.

"Sure." Jack said, his grin becoming wider.

"I was."

"Sam. Don't make me say it again."

"Don't you dare."

"I will. Keep being cute and indignant, and I'll say it."

"You want me to be mean and agreeable? I don't understand."

"Sam."

"Jack."

"I love you."

"You really want me to kill you, don't you?"

"I am just being truthful."

"You want me to slap you?"

"Maybe I do."

"You're sick."

"Why?"

"You like being slapped."

"No, I don't. But, if I say that, and you slap me, it means that you have feelings behind it. When you stop slapping me, that means that you're willing to love me back. So… essentially, slapping is a start."

"You're sick."

"Love sick."

"Shut up."

"I love you, too."


	59. Chapter 59 Consequences

Chapter 59-

Derek roamed the halls on the third floor for fifteen minutes. He paced back and forth in front of the office door. He stopped, looked at the name on the door and then continued down the hallway, he stopped, turned around and walked back. He stood in front of the door with his hand raised to knock, when the door opened.

"Woah. Dr. Shepherd!" the person exiting the room exclaimed.

"Sorry about that." Derek said sheepishly.

"Is there something I can do for you, Dr. Shepherd?" the person asked, his head tilting in curiosity.

"I need to make an appointment with you." Derek said quickly. "Its very important, Dr. Silver, if you have the time." Derek responded.

"Of course I have time, Dr. Shepherd. A fellow doctor is always welcome in my office, no need for an appointment." Dr. Silver smiled.

"Can we do it now?" Derek asked.

"Well, I have to..."

"You don't understand, Dr. Silver. I had a little 'episode' this afternoon. It happened during surgery, I cant have something like that happening in surgery. I need your help now. I need to get to the root of this." Derek said, his voice getting softer.

"Alright, come on into my office." Dr. Silver said as he opens the door wide and allows Derek to pass by him.

"Thank you." Derek said as he enters the office.

Dr. Silver looked both ways down the hallway and turned around, went back into his office and closed the door.

Derek sat down in the chair in the office, Dr. Silver sat across from him. "Dr. Shepherd, I haven't seen you in quite some time, to what do I owe this pleasure?" He asked politely as he straightened himself in the chair, looking over at Derek, who was sitting with his head in his hands.

"I… hesitated…" Derek said, his voice shaky. "I was at the operating table and I was standing over a patient, and I hesitated. My mind is so full, so full of just… crap… I feel like my family is falling apart… patients are starting to remind me of my family members. I just honestly feel like I'm cracking up." Derek says, shaking his head.

"Cracking up? Derek, how about we be a little more specific." Dr. Silver chuckled.

"My son… is missing. He… and my daughter's fiancé got into a bit of trouble, I took out my anger on him, and he took off. I haven't heard from him in days. I'm scared to death that he's lying dead in a ditch somewhere, or on a slab in some hospital waiting for us to go pick up his body. GOD I am being so morbid!" Derek cries.

"And, you hesitated?" Dr. Silver replied.

"I'm not done." Derek said, looking up. "My daughter is pregnant with twins, they are worried that one of them won't make it, my future son in law is paralyzed. My… wife…" Derek said as he began to sweat profusely. His breathing becoming erratic.

"Derek, are you alright?"

"Call… my… wife…" Derek groaned as he quickly grabbed his chest and arm in pain. His face twisted into a gruesome grimace as he fell forward onto his knees.

"Derek! DEREK!" Dr. Silver screamed as he tried to steady the dying man before him. Before he could do anything more, Derek had passed out and fallen to the floor, his face hitting hard against the thin carpet.

Dr. Silver felt panicked and flustered as he reached down to feel the pulse of the man before him, and felt nothing. "Shit." He mumbled as he rolled Derek over and rapidly attempted CPR to no avail. He grabbed the phone off his desk and dialed the nurses station. "THIS IS DOCTOR SILVER, I NEED SOMEONE IN MY OFFICE NOW! IT IS A MEDICAL EMERGENCY!" He screams into the telephone as he reaches down and checks for a pulse, finds none. He picks up the phone. "This is Dr. Silver, forget the goddamned medical personnel, I need Dr. Meredith Shepherd and someone here to call a death. Please hurry." He says sadly in the phone, as he sits calmly next to Derek's lifeless body and begins to cry.

Meredith awoke on the chair in the on call room with a start. Her pager was going off madly and suddenly a frantic intern came flying into the room. "DR. SHEPHERD! YOU HAVE TO COME QUICK!" They called as Meredith looked at the intern sleepily. "It's the chief! HURRY!" the intern called as she turned and ran out of the room, leaving Meredith to gain her composure enough to run after her.

**************

"Sam….SAM!" Jack exclaimed, trying to get her attention, rousing her out of another nap.

"What?" She said, giving him a dirty look as she sat up in her seat.

"Look over there!" He smiled as he pointed.

"It's a rainbow." She says flatly. "Thank God it stopped raining." She smiled. "Rain makes me cranky."

"Sam. I have an idea." Jack said with a smile as he pulled off the highway onto a country road.

"What are you doing? You said you wanted to get home before dark." Sam said as she watched him smiling and couldn't help but smile herself.

"We're going to do something that my dad and I used to do when I was little."

"Laser tag?"

"What? No… We're going to try to drive under the rainbow." Jack laughed.

"You can't drive under a rainbow, that's ridiculous!" Sam said with a laugh.

"My father said its true, are you calling him a liar?" Jack asked, she gives him a look and sticks her tongue out at him. "Watch what you do with that tongue, it may come back to haunt you." Jack joked.

"You're a… drive faster! You're catching up to it!" Sam laughed as she watched the rainbow as Jack maneuvered over the country roads. She giggled in excitement as they drove farther on the roads, turning and watching the rainbow as they laughed excitedly.

"Looks like its starting to disappear" Jack said quietly, his voice holding a bit of disappointment as he began to slow the car down.

"Yeah… it is…" Sam said, her voice sad. "I guess it wasn't meant to be." Sam said softly.

"Yeah." Jack said quietly as he slowed the car to a stop on the deserted country road. They sat watching as the rainbow slowly faded into nothingness. "It's ok though. Do you know why?" He asked as he looked over at her, a twinkle in his soft blue eyes.

"Why?" She asked as she looked deeply into his eyes.

"Because it may be gone right now, but it'll come back someday, and we'll just have to try it again." He said softly.

"Yeah. I think we will." She smiled as she leaned forward and kissed him lightly on his lips. "Let's get back to the highway, rainbow boy." Sam giggled.

There was an awkward pause "You better have said that on accident." Jack laughed.

"Jack, trust me, you are NOT gay."

"Thanks… I think…." Jack responded as he gave her a sideways grin and continued them on their way.

Meredith ran quickly down the hallway after the intern. The hallways were bustling with people running here and there to different emergencies. She looked down at her pager and noticed that it said 911. "Shit." She exclaimed and ran up the stairs quickly to the emergency room where there were three ambulances coming in the back door. She looks around the room and Derek is no where to be seen. She turns to the intern, "Where's Dr. Shepherd?" She says, out of breath. The intern points across the room to an exam room. Meredith runs across the room to the exam room, as soon as she steps in the room, Derek looks up from the chart that he was looking over and smiles brightly at her. "How was your nap?" He asks, not expecting her next reaction.

She ran over to him and put both of her arms around him tightly, resting her head against his chest. "Dr. Shepherd, there's a patient in here." Derek said with a laugh as he squeezes her with his one free arm.

"I know… I know, I'm sorry" Meredith says as she turns around and looks over at the patient, who is an older woman, sitting with a bandage around her head and a smile on her face. Meredith has tears in her eyes as she looks up at Derek. She looks back at the patient. "Can… can I kidnap him for just a second?" Meredith asked the patient, who nodded politely.

"What is it Mer?" He asks as he looks down at her. She takes his hand and leads him out into the hallway. Once their in the hallway, she throws both of her arms around him again and squeezes him tightly. "What's wrong? Meredith, are you alright?" Derek asked.

She broke from the hug and looked into his eyes. "I… I just had a really, really,really bad dream, that's all. I'm alright, I needed to tell you that I love you."

"I love you. Are you sure you're alright, Mer?" Derek asked as he put his hand down and brought her chin up so that she was looking into his eyes. "What was the dream about?" He asked softly.

"I… had…I had lost you and I wasn't able to say goodbye before it was too late." Meredith mumbled.

"Meredith, Meri, Mer, Mmm." He said, raising his eyebrows.

"Derek, I hate it when you do that."

"I know." He grinned. His face then softened to a serious gaze. "I love you, and I'll always love you. We don't have to say goodbye." He said with a smile as he kissed her lips. "Now, you have patients and patience, I have patients. Let's get this day over with so that we can have some alone time."

"I'd like that." Meredith smiled as she let go of him and Derek went into the exam room while Meredith ran to help the other doctors tending to the patients in the ambulance.

************

5:00pm- SGH-

"Matt? Are you awake?" Katie whispered as she moved her wheelchair closer to his bed.

"I am now." Matt grumbled.

"Hey, don't be a grump. I had Charlotte get something for me, at the house." Katie said, smiling.

"What is it?" He asked, his brow furrowed.

"These." Katie grinned, holding up a shoebox.

"Letters?" Matt questioned, a twinkle in his eye.

"Yes. She brought me your letters. I can read them to you if you want." Katie said, taking one of his hands in hers.

"I would love that." Matt replied, smiling.

"Where do you want me to start?" Katie asked.

"Anywhere, I just want to hear your voice." Matt replied. "You could read the phone book and I'd be happy."

"Let's start with the letters, if we get bored, we'll move over to the yellow pages." She giggled.

"It's a deal." He smiled.

Katie shuffles through the box and finds a letter that she is interested in. She picks it up and looks over at Matthew with a smile. "This one has something in it." Katie smiled.

"Katie, there are a lot of letters in there with somethings in it. What is this one?" Matt teased her.

"Hang on… Mister impatient…" Katie laughed as she slips her finger under the flap and slowly opens the envelope. She peeks inside and she grins broadly. "It's a Christmas ornament!" She says excitedly as she pulls the thin metal ornament from the envelope.

"Yep. It was your Christmas present." Matt smiled.

"It has an angel on it!" Katie exclaims.

"Of course, read what it says." Matt laughed at her excitement.

"It says… 'To Katie, Forever my Angel.' Matthew! It is beautiful!" Katie exclaimed, tears springing to her eyes.

"Of course it is! It was for you." Matthew said happily. "Now read me the letter." He said moving his hand to indicate the envelope in her other hand.

"Ok…" Katie says as she gently sets the ornament in Matthew's hand. "You hold this." She says, she looks over at him and smiles. "I love being able to say that." She giggled.

"I love being able to hold things." Matt laughed. "Now read the letter, fluster bug."

"Fine..." She said as she carefully unfolded the letter.

"Dear Katie-bug, I am just writing you this letter to wish you a Merry Christmas. It has been way too many Christmases without you. I hope you like the…. Hey, did you know that Charlotte is sinking Jack's boat?" Katie says.

"Did you know that you're the queen of segues?" Matt asked.

"Huh?"

"Nothing…Go on…" Matt laughed, "Why is Charlotte sinking Jack's boat?"

"Well, she said its because he left without her."

"Its her boat."

"It's THEIR boat."

"Ok, its 'their' boat… but he gave it to her."

"Don't you think it's a little cruel?" Katie asked.

"No."

"Hm…"

"What?"

"I don't know, I just think its cruel. He left without her, so she sinks his most valued possession?"

"THEIR most valued possession."

"Whatever."

"Katie, to Charlotte, that boat represents who she and Jacks are. She is a headstrong woman, and she knows that pining for Jack isn't going to get her anywhere. He's smart, he'll come back in time, but in the meantime she needs to find a way to cope with him leaving. Would you rather have Charlotte sink his boat, or kill him when he gets home?"

"Hmm…"

"Katie…"

"What? You gave me a choice, I have to think about it." She giggled at his disapproving glare. "Ok… I guess you're right…maybe she'll do both though." Katie said with a giggle.

"I think that whenever Jack comes to his senses, whether the boat is sunk or not, he and Charlotte will have issues to work out. I hope he's ok." Matt said softly.

"He's fine… He's a pain in the ass, but he's fine, and he had better get home soon…because if he doesn't…" Katie trailed off.

"Katie?" Matthew says.

"Huh?"

"Could you please read the rest of the letter?" He smiled sweetly.

"OH! Yeah…. Sorry…" She smiled and continued to read the letter.

***************

May 13th -2032- 7pm-

"Jack." Sam said as they drive along.

"Yes?"

"That was the exit we were supposed to take." Sam said, looking concerned.

"I know. We're not going to your house yet."

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." Jack said with a smile. They drove in a comfortable silence for a little while as Sam noticed Jack becoming increasingly more withdrawn.

"What's wrong, boo?" Sam asked, watching him run his fingers through his hair as he drove, his brow furrowed.

"I don't know." He said softly.

"Yes you do. Come on, tell me."

"No… I can't." He said softly. "I got myself into this mess and I can…"

"Get yourself out?"

"I didn't mean that… I don't mean that you're a… I … I mean…"

"It's ok. I know what you mean. You know that you have to go back, you know that you have to face your parents, you know that you have to face what happened. You're scared." Sam said matter-of –factly.

"Normally, if I were talking to someone else, I'd deny it. But, I can admit to you. Yeah, I'm scared. I am scared out of my fucking mind." Jack said, staring out the windshield as he drove.

"Jack. You know, you don't have to tell me what you would 'normally' have done. I am glad that you do tell me, because… that means to me that you're showing me the real you, but you don't have to tell me. I don't deny that you're 100% Jackson right now, so you don't have to tell me. Just tell me what you're feeling despite all the other bullshit. Second of all… what did I say about swearing at me?" Sam said, putting her hand on his leg, giving it a squeeze.

"Sorry… but fine! I'm scared to death. I am scared that I am going to go home and everything is just going to be the same as it ever was. I'm afraid that my father still hates me, and he's going to hate me even more for leaving and freaking my mother out."

"Don't worry about your mother." Sam said with a sly grin.

"What do you mean?" Jack asked, giving her a curious sideways glance.

"Don't worry about it… just go on… you're scared that your father is angry… blah blah … sorry." She replies when he gives her a fake glare

"Ok… I'm scared that he still hates me for freaking my mother out, and for smashing his boats. I'm afraid that Katie hates me because… well… Katie should probably hate me for a lot of things… but most recently when I screamed at her on the phone, I shouldn't have done that." Jack said sadly.

"Nope. Go on…"

"Thanks for the vote of confidence."

"No problem… Go on…"

He gives her another fake glare and smiles, his smile fading as he goes on. "I'm afraid that she's going to hate me for hurting Matt. I don't even know if he's ok, I don't know if he survived the surgery, I don't know anything. I abandoned him, he probably hates me too, for hurting him and paralyzing him, or killing him!"

"I don't think he's going to be mad at you for killing him."

"What?"

"He'll be dead, there's no sense in holding grudges after you're dead."

"You're a…"

"Smart ass." Sam grinned. Jack scowled. "Sorry, go on." She smiled a little when his eyes twinkled at her.

"And Charlotte… my God… how am I going to go back to Charlotte? Sam, I can't do this to her. I… don't deserve her… What the hell have I done? Sam, I can't turn things around… things have happened on this trip, feelings have changed… I kissed you…"

"You did a hell of a lot more than kiss me." Sam said seriously.

"Ok, I kissed you, groped you, held you, cried with you, laughed with you… Sam… I loved you. I loved you and now I have to leave." Jack said, his tears begin to fall down his cheeks.

"Jackson… what happens in Vegas stays in Vegas." Sam said simply.

"What?"

"Jack, this is your life. This… is your life's journey. Yeah, I know you're supposed to tell the love of your life everything, every goddamned detail and all that crap, but give me a break, ok? There are certain things that you keep to yourself. You hold them so close to your soul that they become part of you, and no matter how much you love someone, no matter how close you become to someone… there are some things that never need to be told, because they are for YOU, for YOUR heart, for YOUR soul, because no one can penetrate your soul, not even the closest of friends, not even the passionate of lovers. There are just some experiences and memories that are there for only you." Sam said softly.

"So you're saying?"

"Shut up, you know what I'm saying."

"And that's honest?"

"The only person that you need to be honest to, the only person that you are responsible for keeping happy, is yourself, Jack."

"This is why I love you."

"Jack."

"Yes?"

"Where are we going?"

"You'll see." He smiles.

_  
Derek took off running down the hallway after the little boy with the blonde hair. The next thing he knows, the little boy has turned the corner and disappeared. "Crap." He says to himself. "Jacks? Jacks! Where are you, buddy?" Derek called as he ran through the hallway of the hospital looking for his five year old son. "Daddy doesnt like to play hide and seek, Jacks... it scares him..." Derek trailed off as he walked down the hallway faster._

"Jackson?" Derek calls as he passes the nurses station. "Hey, did any of you guys see my son? Little boy... about... this big... blonde hair, blue eyes...runs really fast..." Derek said as he passed the nurses station, the nurses shook their head as Derek continued down the hallway. Then he realized, the only thing at the end of the hallway was the stairwell. "Shit!" He yells out as he watches the stairwell door latch, and runs down the hallway to see if he can find Jack. Derek flys into the stairwell and runs down the stairs frantically.

"Daddy?" Jack says softly as he peeks out of a closet door as he watches is father run into the stairwell. He ventures out into the hallway and looks around. "Daddy, are you here?" Jack says, his voice high and nervous. He ventures down the hallway to the stairwell. Opening the door, he slips into the stairwell and walks up the stairs to the next floor. He carefully opens the door and looks around at the people running about, no one notices the little boy who dodges nurses and doctors as he makes his way down the hallway. His little backpack weighs heavy on his back from his busy day in kindergarten, as he stealthily moves down the hallway. He sees a door to his left and grabs the handle, running inside, he slams the door behind him. He looks around the room and sees that there are a lot of chairs and a huge window to his left. He thinks he's been here before as he wanders through the room and takes his backpack off his back.

He jumps at the sound of his mother's voice. He immediately realizes that she's not talking to him, but to someone else. He frantically searches around the room, under chairs and jumps to see out the door on the window. He can hear her voice, but the can't seem to figure out how to get to her. He runs over to the big window and looks down. He sees several people wearing blue outfits and masks. "MAMA?" He calls out, looking down, hoping that one of the people in the big room is his mother. "MAMA!" He calls again.

Meredith is performing surgery when she hears someone yelling and banging on the window of the gallery. "Dr. Akins, can you please tell me what the problem is up in the gallery?" Meredith says as she continues the procedure.

The intern next to her looks up into the gallery and sees little Jackson frantically trying to get his mother's attention. "Dr. Shepherd, there's a little boy in the gallery. He seems pretty upset."

Meredith looks up and sees Jackson clinging to the window, tears in his eyes as he pounds on the glass. "That's my son." Meredith mumbled. "Dr. Akins, can you please page Dr. Hawk eyes and tell him that there is a sparrow in the crows nest… and if he doesn't swoop down soon, he'll be sleeping on the couch nest tonight." Meredith said to the intern.

"Got it." Dr. Akins replied as she turned and walked out of the operating room.

Meredith looked up at her little boy as he tried frantically to figure out which one was his mama. "Snuggle bug." Meredith said, giving him a wave. Jackson stopped screaming and settled down a bit after hearing his mother's voice say her pet name for him. He watched as one of the people down there waved at him.

"Mommy?" He whispered.

"Jacks, there's a red button and a white button right in front of you, buddy. Push the white button, and mommy will be able to hear you." Meredith said, watching him climb down from the window and try to find the button. "Tell me something, Jacks." Meredith says with a smile under her mask.

"Mommy! Can you hear me?" His voice comes clearly out of the intercom.

"I can hear you baby. Where's daddy?"

"He was playing hide and go seek with me, and I think he got lost." Jack explained, his voice loud.

"Honey, you don't have to yell, mommy can hear you just fine if you talk normally. How was school today?"

"Um… good. Sammy Snyder poked me in the eye with a pencil eraser. I think it was on accident, but it hurted." Jack said, rubbing his eye.

Meredith continued the procedure, now and then looking up at her son, who is leaning with his forehead against the window as he watches the surgery and talks to her.

"Mommy?"

"Yes sweetheart."

"What are you doing, down there? Why aren't you upstairs with me."

"Mommy's working sweetie, she's being a doctor." Meredith said, getting increasingly annoyed that Derek hasn't shown up yet.

"Oh." He replied, in thought. "Mommy.... daddy said that me and Katie are going to stay with aunt Crissy tonight cuz you and daddy want to have kissing time. I mean, he didn't say kissing time, but he said alone time and I know that when you are alone with daddy, that you like to kiss him. I don't mind though, I like staying with aunt Crissy. You know, Charlotte and I were gonna play baseball cards today but daddy said that I was gonna spend plenty of time with her when I go to her house and you and daddy go play kissy. I wanna get a kitten, cuz you know, Charlotte might get a kitten and it wouldn't be fair if she went and got a kitten and I don't think it would be fair, wouldn't… be … mommy?"

"Yes Jackson."

"Do you miss me?"

"Of course I miss you, little boy. Don't be so silly." Meredith replied.

"I miss you too." He said softly as he made faces on the window. Meredith continues the surgery and glances up and sees her son watching everything. She looks back down and continues the surgery. Suddenly she hears a scuffle and looks up when she sees Derek trying to get control over Jack who is trying to get away from him so that he can watch Meredith in surgery.

"Derek." Meredith said, she immediately got his attention.

He looks down at her and stops struggling with Jackson. "Yes, sweetheart?"

"Don't be hard on him. You're the one that lost the game of hide and seek." She said with a giggle.

"I won't." Derek laughed as he picked up Jackson, who came willingly. "Say bye bye to mommy, Jacks."

"Bye bye, Mommy Jacks." He giggled. "We love you!" He said happily as Derek kissed his son on the cheek and smiled down at Meredith.

"Goodbye boys." Meredith says happily. "Derek?" Meredith says as he heads for the door in the gallery with Jackson in his arms. He looks at her questioningly. "Don't make me get a leash."

"I won't leash our son…" Derek said with a laugh.

"I wasn't talking about for him." Meredith replied. "Don't forget his back pack." Meredith said without looking up. "I love you."

"We love you too!" Derek and Jack said at the same time as Derek grabbed Jackson's backpack and they left the gallery together.

Meredith paused for a moment while completing the craniotomy on her most recent patient. She sighed heavily as she looked up into the darkened gallery. The memories were so clear, and she couldn't help but wish that things could be that simple once again.

*********

7:30 PM-

"Where are you taking me?" Sam asked impatiently as they drove along the highway. "You're taking me to the beach?" She asked, her smile unmistakable as her eyes sparkle as she hops around in her seat excitedly.

"You're like a freaking little kid." Jack laughed, reaching out his hand to hers.

She snatches his hand up and kissed it over and over. "Who cares, you are too!" Sam says with a giggle as she rolls down the window and folds her arms on the side, letting the wind push her hair into her face and all around. "I can't wait! I love the beach!" She giggled.

"You don't get out much, do you?" Jack said with a laugh.

She turned around and scowled at him, and exchanged it for a smile when she saw him smiling. "I didn't have a backyard growing up, thank you very much." She said, sticking her tongue out at him.

"Seriously? I grew up on forty acres of land, had a pond, our own tree house, giant field to play baseball or soccer in. It was great! I can't imagine being cooped up in the city." Jack said as he looked around at all of the development along the beach.

"Well 'la tee da' for you, Mister mountain man." Sam giggled. "I would have loved to had an opportunity like that. I always felt cooped up in our townhouse. I didn't really get a chance to do much as a kid. I mostly stayed in and practiced piano for my fun. It kept me busy, but sometimes I think I missed out on some things. Mom took me to the beach now and then, but she was usually too busy to get away from the hospital for too long." Sam explained. "Look at that, we're going to get to see the sunset!" She exclaimed excitedly as she pointed at the sun.

"Ah, so you figured out my plan." Jack laughed as he pulled his car into one of the parking spaces near the beach entrance.

"You brought me to see the sunset?" She giggles.

"Well, its not the same as out west, but… yeah… there's something that I want to show you." He replies as he parks the car and leans over to her. "So are we going, or not?" He asks as he opens the door and jumps out of the seat and closes his door. He stretches in the early evening sun as Sam steps out of her side and stretches. They glance at one another over the top of the car and their attention turns to the ocean that is beckoning them. They glance one more time at one another and both smile at the same time.

"LAST ONE IN IS A HAIRY APE!" Sam screams as she slams the car door closed and starts running. He runs after her. Both of them leap over the little construction area that was around the parking area and they both jumped down the wooden steps that led to the water.

They were just about to reach the water when Jack caught up to her and scooped her up into his arms. Just as he got his grip on her, he slowed as he stepped into the ocean, the salty cool water covering his feet as his toes sank gently into the wet sand. Sam giggled in his arms as he swung her around. "If you don't stop struggling, I'm going to drop you in." Jack laughed.

"I dare you!" She laughed as he stepped farther into the water, the water covering his jeans to his knees as he step farther out. "Jack! You're getting your pants wet!" She exclaims looking down.

"Who cares?" He says as he holds onto her tighter. "Do you want to go in? The water is nice." He asked.

"Nah, I like where I am." She said as she wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the cheek.

"I came here for a reason." Jack said softly.

"Let me guess, you drove clear across the country, just so that you could drown me in the Atlantic Ocean." She giggled.

"Close…" He says seriously. She gives him a sideways glance that makes him laugh out loud. "Kidding…Maybe…" He says. She kisses his cheek again and he turns around and walks out of the water to the dry sand along the beach. He sits down with Sam nestled in his lap and he looks out into the ocean. "Comfy?" He asks as she fiddles with the collar of his shirt, looking down at her fingers.

"Perfect." She whispers. She looks up at the water, trying to find what he's looking at, only to see that he's just looking at everything. She sighs as Jack takes a deep breath and smells the evening sea air.

"Here, come with me." Jack says as he carefully places her in the sand beside himself. He stands up and walks along the beach looking for something. "Here!" He exclaims as he picks up a stick along the water.

"You were looking for a stick? How strange." Sam said, incredulously as she stood up.

"Hush."

"Ok." She giggled as she watched him walk towards the water, and followed after him.

"I want to show you something that my mother taught me when I was little."

"Laser tag?"

"Not funny."

"Oh. Sorry." Sam smiled.

"We used to go to the beach now and then while I was growing up, we'd come out to New York and visit my grandparents, or go to the beach out in California now and again, and my mother would always play this game with us at sunset. She said it would help us sleep better at night. She said, that if you're feeling sad, or worried, or scared, or angry...and I guess you'd have to be near the ocean… but... anyway.... She said, you take a stick, and when the sun first begins to set, you walk to the water's edge, and you scrawl a word into the wet sand."

"It can be a feeling, a person, an unpleasant experience. But it can only be one word. You scrawl it in the wet sand and you step back as the waves take the word and wipe it away. You could do it as many times as you wanted, with as many different words. The point, Sammy, is that you're telling the ocean to take that worry, that fear, that anger, and you're letting the ocean take that thing away with it." Jack explained, and looked into Sam's eyes.

Sam stepped forward to Jack, so that she is standing in front of him. "So what you're saying, is that when you come to the ocean, and you have things weighing on your mind, you will be able to leave with a clear head?"

"Exactly." He said as he reached over and kissed her on the nose.

"And when is the game over?" Sam asked.

"The game is over when the last bit of sun goes over the horizon, but your worries are gone, and you can go to sleep with a clear head and a smile on your face." Jack smiled. "You know what?" Jack said with a grin.

"What?"

"You can't catch me!" Jack exclaimed as he took off running down the beach laughing.

"Hey, that's not fair! Get back here!" She laughed as she ran after him.

He ran fast over the beach, kicking the sand up as he ran. He slowed down and turned, watching her run along the beach behind him. He stopped for a moment to let her catch up, watching her long brown hair flow in the ocean breeze, the sound of her laughter warming his heart.

_**Fumbling his confidence  
And wondering why the world has passed him by  
Hoping that he's meant for more than arguments  
And failed attempts to fly, fly**_

She catches up to him and wraps her arms around his waist as she giggles at their little race. He looks down at her and smiles. "Sammy… how am I going to be able to leave you tonight? You have given me so much hope. I don't want to let that go. I don't want you to make me leave. I just… I want to be right here, with you… forever. I don't think that I can make it without you." He says softly with his eyes filling with tears.

"That's nonsense!" Sam says reaching up to touch his cheek with her hand. "You have made it this far without me... You're telling me that you're just going to one day pick up a stranger on the side of the road, spend a couple of days with her, and your going to try to give her all the credit for saving you? That's ridiculous. Jackson, all of these feelings inside of you… all of the pride, hopes, and dreams… all of the memories that you have shared with me… the confidence that you have shown me, that was always there with you, always hiding somewhere inside of you. You… You can't make it without YOU… Not me. I'm just a girl that just happened to be there when it happened.

_**We were meant to live for so much more  
Have we lost ourselves?  
Somewhere we live inside  
Somewhere we live inside  
We were meant to live for so much more  
Have we lost ourselves?  
Somewhere we live inside**_

"Stop it! Stop saying that! You are not 'just a girl'! I don't know if you really believe that or not, but it's not true. These feelings that I have for you, the way I think about you, the way I long to hold you, touch you, make you smile and laugh, it's not lust, it's not an infatuation or a crush. I love you. I know I do, and it scares me, because I know that I can't stay here, and I know that you can't come with me, so I'm crushed. I'm crushed inside and the only thing that could make it worse would be by you saying that you're 'just a girl'. You're not 'just a girl', Sam. You're a beautiful, smart, compassionate, funny, loving woman, and you deserve to be happy. Stop acting like a grown up, or a martyr for once, and just embrace yourself, love yourself like I love you. I can't be with you, but… I also can't leave without knowing that you'll believe in yourself." Jack begged as he held her face in his hands and gazed longingly into her eyes.

"Jack. Face it, I don't have anyone. I had to tell my mother that I was coming home with a boyfriend, just so she'd let me drive home. I'm pathetic. I am a fifty year old woman in an eighteen year old's body. The only thing I have for myself is my music. That's all I have ever had for myself. Sometimes I just feel like the whole goddamned world is spinning and I'm going in the opposite direction. Driving against the traffic, swimming against the current, cutting against the grain, eating the frosting off the cake first… I'm not like everyone else. I'm different, and that makes me a freak. Give me a break, Jack. I can't have what I want! I can't have YOU. Of course I can't have you, Jack, I'm Sam...I'm nothing." Sam said, plopping herself down in the sand and put her hands over her eyes as she pulled her face into her knees.

_**Dreaming about providence  
And whether mice or men have second tries  
Maybe we've been living with our eyes half open  
Maybe were bent and broken, broken**_

Jack walked around in front of her and kneeled down. He put both of his hands on her shoulders and pushed her lightly backwards onto the sand. He straddled her body with his own, and she pulled her hands away from her face and closed her eyes as to not look into his. "Open your eyes please." He asked sweetly.

Her lips curling to a smile as she kept her eyes tightly closed. "I can't." She whispers, her smile fading.

"Sammy. Please?" Jack asked, his voice pleading just as much as his words. "If you don't open your eyes, I'm going to kiss you." He whispered with a sly grin.

"I can't open my eyes."

"Why not?"

"Because, if I open my eyes, I will have to look into yours, and I can't do that."

"Why not?"

"Because, you're trying to fix me, I don't want to be fixed. I want to stay the way I am. I am supposed to be fixing you, not the other way around." She pouts.

"Sam."

"Jack."

"Sam."

"Yes?"

"I am not trying to fix anything. I'm trying to help you see what I see. We can call it… 'corrective perception'…. How about that?"

Sam opens her eyes and giggles. "Corrective perception?"

"Ah, there are those beautiful eyes!" He exclaims.

Sam closes her eyes tightly again, Jack frowns. "Explain this term you just made up." Sam said softly.

"Well, I'm just trying to get you to see things from both sides. You see yourself as an old soul trapped in the body of a child, whereas I see you as a beautiful butterfly emerging from a cocoon. That's quite a difference in perception, if you ask me. So I'm trying to make you see what others see when they look at you, when they hear you speak, when they hear your laugh or touch your face. Sammy, open your eyes."

Sam paused for a moment and then slowly opened her eyes. His face was inches from hers as he looked deep into the depths of her soul, through her eyes. He smiled and put his hand lightly on her face. "I'm serious Sam, open your eyes." He whispered, as he pressed his lips against hers and kissed her sweetly.

He smiled in the kiss when he heard the sweet, soft, throaty sound that she makes when she kisses. She ran her fingers through his unkempt hair as she pulled his body down onto hers. He rolled over onto his back, pulling her on top of him as he ran his fingers through her hair, listening to her pleasure filled moans as his fingertips ran around her ears to her earlobe and down her neck to her arms as he wrapped his arms tightly around her body.

She moved her hands to the sides of his face and slowly pulled out of his kiss. "Jack." She said, breathless, her lips swollen from his kisses.

"Yes?"

"Please don't leave me, Jack. I love you." She said, as tears began to flow from her eyes, she wraps her arms tightly around him and cries hard into his chest.

"Don't cry, baby. Don't cry." Jack whispered as he rubbed lazy, calming circles around her back, trying to calm her tears. "It'll be alright. Please don't cry."

_**We were meant to live for so much more  
Have we lost ourselves?  
Somewhere we live inside  
Somewhere we live inside  
We were meant to live for so much more  
Have we lost ourselves?  
Somewhere we live inside**_

Sam cried into his chest until the sun was half set, Jack held her and let her cry until all of her tears were spilled out onto his shirt and she had no more left to shed. "Sammy, the sun is setting." He said softly as she fiddled with the buttons of his shirt, her eyes still red from her crying.

"We didn't get to do the thing with the stick in the sand." She mumbled as she shifted to look up at him.

"I'll do you one better." Jack said softly as he kissed the top of her head and gave her a squeeze. "Let's go!" He said as he started to sit up, helping her to sit up as well. He stood up and held out his hand to her.

"Where are we going?" She asked as she reached up for his hand.

"You'll see." He said gently as he pulled her to her feet and turned around. "Here, hop on." He said as he kneeled in the sand.

"You're going to carry me?"

"Of course." Jack said with a laugh. "Come on, hop on." He said again.

She put her arms around his neck and settled her hands on his chest as he stood up with her legs wrapped securely around himself, he grabbed the stick that he had found from the ground, and walked off, holding her tightly.

_**We want more than this world's got to offer  
We want more than this world's got to offer  
We want more than the wars of our fathers  
And everything inside screams for second life**_

Jack carried her up the sand towards the car. They silently crossed the wooden planked steps that lead to the beach and walked towards the small construction area near the road. Jack carefully set her onto her feet and took her hand. He sat down beside the concrete sidewalk that had been carefully layed that morning and he looked around to make sure that there were no passers by.

Sam sat silently next to him and looked over at him with a curious glance. Jack took the stick from his hand and held it like a pencil over the drying concrete. He looked over at Sam, and then back down at the wet slab of concrete and smiled to himself. He carefully began to scrawl deeply into the wet concrete, in letters approximately two inches high, he wrote 'S A M'. He looked over at her and smiled.

"Jack?"

"Yes?"

"What does this mean?" She asked, looking down at the word that he had written.

"This…" He said, indicating the word. "This will dry by tomorrow. When it dries, your name will be embedded into this piece of concrete." He whispered. "And the day that the ocean washes this sidewalk away with the tide, will be the day that I stop thinking about you, worrying about you, hoping for you, and loving you. I… I can't stay, Sammy. You know that and I know that… but I know that you're special to me, and its important that you know that. Our lives collided for some reason, and even if that reason was to save us from whatever pain we were feeling, it was time well spent, and I will remember you forever." He whispered.

"You… you're trying to make me cry again…" Sam whimpered as her bottom lip trembled and her eyes began to fill with tears.

"Nope. No more crying. No more crying for you, no more crying for me. We're done crying. It's time to go home." Jack said softly as he pulled her into his lap and rocked her in his arms until the sun slipped below the horizon.

_**We were meant to live for so much more  
Have we lost ourselves?  
We were meant to live for so much more  
Have we lost ourselves?  
We were meant to live for so much more  
Have we lost ourselves?  
We were meant to live  
We were meant to live **_

Sam and Jack got up from their place beside the sidewalk and held hands as they silently walked to the car. Jack walked to her side and opened the door for her. She smiled up at him and gave him a hug. He hugged her back and watched as she quietly got into the car.

Jack walked to his side of the car and got in. He started the car and looked over at her, softly placing his hand on her leg as he looked into her eyes. He then moved his hand to the shifter and put the car in reverse to pull out of the parking space.

Just as the car began to back up, Sam's face got a look of panic. "Stop! Wait!" She said frantically.

Jack stopped quickly. "What? What is it?"

"I forgot something!" She exclaimed as she threw off her seatbelt. She swung open the car door before Jack could question her.

She ran over to the concrete sidewalk kneeled down. She picked up the stick beside the sidewalk and gently scrawled something into the sidewalk. She set the stick beside it and smiled as she stood up, brushing her knees off as she made her way back to the car.

She climbed into the car and sat down, a contented smile on her face. He looks over at her curiously and smiles as she puts her seatbelt on. "What?" He asks.

"It was my turn." She said simply as she grabbed his hand and looked out the side window, ready to go home.

******************

8pm- SGH-

Derek rushes hurriedly down the hallway towards his office. He can see that the light is on in his outer office and reaches for the doorknob. He smiles as he pulls out his keys and carefully unlocks the door, his smile becomes wider when he sees that his inner office is open just a crack. He steps inside and turns around, locking the door for the outer office in the process. He walks to his inner office door and he pushes it open a little and sees Meredith sitting at his desk, turning the chair in circles as she plays with something in her hands.

"I'm not cleaning it up when you throw up all over my office." Derek says as he steps into the room.

Meredith looked up and gave him a sarcastic smile. "Derek, you're lucky someone cleaned the glass from the mirror out of your bathroom." Meredith replied. "Come here." She said as she stood up and motioned to him to come closer. Derek walked over to her and gave her a kiss as she pushed him lightly into his chair. She climbed onto his lap and held her against his chest as he gently rubbed her arm, dropping kisses into her hair. "Are you ready to talk yet?" She whispered.

"No."

"Will you talk to me anyway?"

"Yes." He said, kissing her hair again.

"What happened in there, Derek?" She asked softly.

"I… I… Mer… do you know who that patient was?" Derek asked, his voice sad and withdrawn.

"It was a 22 year old male that had gotten into a car accident, I can't remember his name or anything, but… I am pretty sure that I don't know him personally." Meredith replied, holding his hand in hers.

"Meredith. He was a 22 year old man. He had gotten into a car accident because he had fallen asleep at the wheel. We called his parents, right before the surgery. He had run away from home three days ago, his parents didn't want to see him, they didn't even care that he was having brain surgery." Derek replied.

"Derek."

"No Meredith. What if that was Jackson in there, Meredith, what if he's hurt somewhere and we don't know, what if we don't know until it's too late. I said mean, hurtful, hateful things and I can't take it back. He's gone, and I can't take it back. That's why I hesitated, Meredith. What would I do if… what… " Derek said, his voice becoming full of emotion. "What if he…"

"Derek. Don't say that, don't think that!" Meredith said forcefully, trying not to show how this conversation is affecting her.

"But what if…"

"We're not playing the 'what if' game, Derek. Jackson will come home, he will come home, he's fine. He's angry, he's trying to sort through his emotions. You didn't call me when you were off soul searching, did you?"

"That was different…." Derek muttered.

"No, it isn't different, it's the same, Derek. You left because you had hurt me, you had hurt Addison, you had hurt yourself. That's why Jack left. He hurt Matt, he had hurt Katie, he hurt Charlotte, and he also hurt you. He doesn't want to hurt anyone anymore, he needs to sort out his feelings and his thoughts. He's alright. I promise you, he's alright." Meredith whispered.

Derek was silent for a few minutes as he kissed her head a few more times and ran lazy circles with his hand on her back. "Meredith, you have been very quiet about this whole Jackson thing lately. The other day you were hysterical, and now you're telling me that he's going to be fine. Is there something that I don't know?" Derek asked, shifting so that he can look into her eyes.

"Well… um… the other day, I got a phone call. It was from his phone, it was a friend who is traveling with him. I think Jack is driving to Boston to drop his friend off, and then he's going to be coming home."

"A friend?"

"Yeah… it was a strange conversation, but for some reason, I trusted her. She said that he was very upset and sad, but that she would be helping him to come home. I am just holding on to that hope, Derek. It's all that I have." Meredith whispered.

"Why didn't you tell me this sooner?" Derek asked, his voice soft and understanding.

"I didn't want to get my hopes up too high. I just…I was selfish for keeping it to myself, Derek, I'm sorry."

"It's ok. I don't deserve to know, Meredith. I was really wrong for what I did. I'm sorry." He says softly as he hugs her closer. "Meredith?" Derek said, his voice becoming playful.

"Yeah?"

"What are you holding in your other hand?" He asks as he looks down in her lap.

"Nothing."

"Come on, what is it?" Derek asked, trying to see what she was hiding.

"It's nothing…" Meredith says with a little giggle. "It's just this." She says as she turns her palm around and shows him the stapler in her hand.

"You were thinking about me, weren't you." Derek said with a chuckle.

"Maybe."

"You were… weren't you… and you are a little…. Frustrated, aren't you?" Derek said, giving her a little tickle.

"Stop that… no…" She giggled.

"Yes you were…" He says as he takes the stapler out of her hand and sets it on the desk. He takes her chin under his finger and brings her face up to look at him. He wiggles his eyebrows in a suggestive manner.

"You know what…. You're the only person in the world that can go from sentimental sadness to dirty old man in five seconds."

"I resent that." He said playfully.

"Ok, you're not dirty." Meredith said as she encircled his neck with her arms and began to kiss him passionately as Derek cleared his desk in one swing of his arm. Checking to make sure that the stapler had made it safely to the floor, Derek lay Meredith down on his desk lightly and made love to her.

8pm- Boston, MA

"Ok, there, you turn the corner there and my mom's place is right there on the right." Sam directed as Jack drove slowly through the streets, listening to the excitement in her voice as they came closer to her mother's town house. She points out the parking space in front of the town house. Jack parks the car and stares out the windshield.

"Well…we're here." Jack says awkwardly as he looks at the front of the town house.

"Yep." She says awkwardly back, looking at the town house.

"Yep." He replies.

"So…"

"Yeah…."

"I…uh… guess you should be going, huh?" She says softly.

"Yeah…probably." He says as they slip into an awkward silence.

"Do you want to come in for a couple of minutes?"

"Probably shouldn't." He replies.

"Yeah…"

"Well, um… ok. Thanks for the ride, Jack." She says softly as she grabs her bag.

"Yep, anytime." Jack said as he looked into her eyes.

"Ok, um… thanks then…" Sam says as she reaches over and kisses him on the cheek.

"I'll see you." Jack said, internally slapping himself in the head for saying that.

"Yeah." She says as she gets out of the car and swings her bag over her shoulder. "See you." She says softly. She forces herself to turn and walk up the steps of the town house. She looks back and Jack waves from the car. She waves back and unlocks the door. She turns around and he waves as he backs out of the driveway. She waves back and watches as he drives off down the street. Immediately tears begin to flow down her cheeks as she swings the door open of the town house and walks inside, slamming the door behind her, she falls to her knees in a fit of uncontrollable sobs.

_"Sam?" Jack whispered as he drove away from the beach and back towards the city._

"Yeah?"

"I hate saying goodbye. I don't want to say goodbye to you." He said softly.

"Then don't say goodbye. We don't have to say it. It would be okay. I mean…we don't have to say the words, if you don't want to believe that it's goodbye."

"Well, since you live in Boston, and I live in Seattle, chances are… this is goodbye."

"You said you don't want to say it, so we won't say it." She said, taking his hand.

A silence fell between them, both were deep in thought.

"Are you going to cry when I leave?" Jack asked, interrupting the silence.

"Maybe." She said, looking into his eyes as he glanced at her now and then.

"Please don't cry when I leave. I don't want to leave, but knowing that you're crying will make it so much harder. I hate it when you're sad." Jack whispered, lifting his hand to her cheek.

"But…"

"Promise me that you won't cry, Sammy, please?"

"I promise." She whispered.

"Promise what."

"I promise that I won't cry when you leave." She said, reaching her hand up and running her fingers through his hair. "You need a hair cut." She said with a small laugh.

"Way to change the subject." He chuckled.

"What? I promised. I won't cry when you leave. Telling you that you need a hair cut is a totally different conversation." She giggled.

"Hush." He replied.

"You and your hush." She giggled back.

Another comfortable silence fell between them.

"Sam?"

"Yeah?"

"What did you write back there, in the concrete?"

"Um… I can't tell…" She smiled.

"Sammy, tell me."

"Nope, we're just going to have to go see it together sometime." She laughed as she held his hand tightly.

"Yeah, I think that would be nice." Jack replied as they headed towards Sam's house.

******************************

_**I'm not a perfect person  
There's many things I wish I didn't do  
But I continue learning  
I never meant to do those things to you**_

Sam was in the middle of a fit of tears so violent and fierce, her tears blinded her and her voice echoed through the empty town home. She pulled her backpack off her shoulder and threw it with full force into a small table by the stairs, knocking the glass vase atop it to the floor. She hurled her body to the ground and rocked herself back and forth as she curl into a ball on the floor, her face in her hands, her body trembling as the sobs overtake her.

She is so fully overtaken with sobs that she doesn't see the front door open. She doesn't see the person entering approach her, sitting beside her. The next thing she remembers, is being pulled into someone's strong arms and rocked back and forth, kissed atop the head and comforted as best she could. She clutched onto the person's shirt, taking a deep breath, she could smell his cologne, making her cry harder into his chest. She cried and carried on for nearly a half hour, he rocked her and whispered words of comfort and apology to her. Slowly, her sobs began to slow, her eyes had shed all the tears possible and her voice was hoarse from screaming so loudly and so fiercely. Her breathing began to slow as she hiccupped to catch the breath that she had lost during her violent crying episode, and her hand still grasped tightly to his shirt. She took a deep breath and looked up at him. "You…. You didn't leave…" She says, her cheeks rosy, her eyes red and tired, her body still trembled from the pure emotion that was pumping through her veins.

"You lied to me." He whispered as he kissed her head and cradled her in his arms, pulling her tighter into his embrace. "You said you wouldn't cry. Look what I did to you." He said, his own voice cracking with emotion. "I did this to you, I am so awful." He said as tears began to fall from his eyes.

"No!" Sam exclaimed, pulling on his shirt, looking up at him. "No, you didn't do this to me. I did this to me, I became attached to you. You're right, I shouldn't have cried when you left, I promised. I promised you and I broke that promise, I'm sorry. I'm so sorry." She said sadly as she wrapped her arms around his neck.

"No, Samantha, I love you. I am not sorry for telling you that I love you, but I am sorry if I have hurt you because of it. I… am sometimes selfish with my emotions, and I don't realize that by expressing that feeling to you, I have caused you to become attached to me. I should have never told you not to cry. I should have just told you that we won't say goodbye. I became selfish and I thought of how you may react when I leave, and it broke my heart to think of you crying, but it crushed my soul to see you lying here like that, you were so broken, so sad. I don't ever want you to feel that way. I am sorry." He whispers as he holds her tightly, looking into her dark brown eyes.

They sit there in silence for a while longer, as Jack gently rocks her and kisses her head. "No more crying right now, sweetheart, no more crying." He soothes. "Do you want me to stay with you until you fall asleep tonight?"

"Yes." She whispered. "Will you stay?"

_**And so I have to say before I go  
That I just want you to know**_

"I will stay, if you want me to, until you fall asleep, but you have to do me a favor." He says as he traces his finger over her cheek.

"Anything." She whispers.

"I need to take a shower, and… I was wondering if your mother has a washing machine that I can use. I should probably wash my clothes" He smiled at her, his blue eyes sparkling. "There's two more things in addition to that." Jack said smiling softly.

"What is that?" Sam asked, her fingers jumping from button to button as she listen intently to the sound of his voice.

"First, I wanted to know if you would cut my hair for me."

"Cut your hair?"

"Yeah." He whispered as he ran his fingers through his thick hair. "You're right, I'm going to need it cut, it's getting long and I want to show everyone that I'm a different person now. I think that a hair cut could help me feel that way."

"You trust me to cut your hair?" Sam asked, grinning at him mischievously.

"Of course I trust you… I think I would trust you with most anything." Jack said, his grin becoming wider. "As long as you don't keep my hair in a jar or something… that's kind of stalkerish." He laughs, making Sam laugh.

"I would love to cut your hair." Sam giggled. "What was the last favor that you had?"

"My last favor… the last thing that you have to promise me, in order to get me to stay…"

"What?"

"I want you to play me something."

"Play you something?"

"On the piano. I want to hear you play. I can see by all of the different pictures and from that giant piano in your music room that music is a big part of your life. I want to hear you play. It would make my day, to hear you play." Jack said, his voice calm and sincere.

Sam put her head down as if she were shy, she fiddled with the buttons on his shirt and looked up at Jack. "Of course I'll play something for you. I know just the thing." She giggled as she held on tightly in his embrace.

"Let me get my things, and put them in the washing machine, then I'll take a shower. After that, we'll start on the other things. How does that sound?" Jack asked.

"That sounds great." Sam replied as she hugged him and carefully slid from his lap onto the floor beside him, wiping the tears on her cheeks that hadn't been wiped away.

"Are you alright?" Jack asked, taking her hand in his.

"I am now." She whispered.

_**I've found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
And the reason is you**_

Jack holds her hand in thought for a few moments as a thousand thoughts roll through his head. Some happy, some sad, but he feels that at last he has them under control. He gives her hand another squeeze and stands up.

"I'll be right back." Jack said as he stood up. He turned and ran out the door to the car. Sam sat on the floor with her back on the floor and her arms wrapped around her knees while she waited for him to return. When he comes in carrying his suitcase, he sets it on the floor across from sam and carefully goes through it, creating a pile of clothes that need to be washed. "Now you're sure that your mom isn't coming home?" He asks with a smile.

"I promise, she's at some consult, she left today. You have nothing to worry about."

"Ok, I just want to make sure, you don't even want to know what happened the last time I was at a girl's house without her parents around." Jack smirked.

"You're right." Sam giggled.

"What?"

"I don't want to know." She said with a laugh. Jack gave her a fake shocked expression and crawled across the floor to her and gave her a tickle until they were both lying on the floor next to one another, smiling.

"Um… hey, I'll go put your clothes in the washer, you go start your shower." She giggled as she sat up. "The bathroom is upstairs. Second door on the right." She says with a smile.

"Sounds like a deal. Now don't go shrinking anything." Jack laughed.

"Don't you worry about shrinkage Jack, I've never had a problem like that with you before." She giggled as she stood up.

"Oh, I so deserved that." He said as he stood up next to her.

"Yes you did." She giggled, reaching up, she kissed him on the cheek and scooped up his clothes. She looked over at him as he watched her with a love filled gaze. "Jack! You! Shower! Go!" She exclaimed with a laugh as he started to fumble around, eventually turning and going upstairs. She stood at the bottom of the stairs for a few seconds and smiled as she heard the water start running from the shower. She turned and brought his clothes to the washing machine.

******************************

Jack had taken his clothes off and peeled the bandage from his hand and was stepping under the warm stream of water not long after. He smiled thinking of the girl downstairs and their many adventures. He closed his eyes as the warm water washed over his face and down his neck and chest. He listened to the sound of the water as it hit the bottom of the bathtub, his eyes closed as he savored each second as the warmth of the water enveloped him.

He was so engrossed in the shower that he didn't know she was there until he felt her arms wrap around him from behind. His eyes shot open and his body stiffened in shock with her touch, but that moment only lasted a second as he melted into her arms. "What…. Sam?" He managed to stutter as she pressed her naked body against his and gently ran her fingers over his bare chest, feeling the warm water on her fingertips.

"I needed a shower too." She giggled. "Besides, I thought I'd teach you a little lesson in self control." She whispered breathily into his ear.

He tries to turn around, only to be stopped by her hands grabbing the sides of his hips, stopping his movement. "Wait just a second there." She giggled.

"What?" He whispered, swallowing hard, desire building up in his body as she then wraps her arms around his waist, pressing her naked breasts against his back. "What…" He whispers again, his voice a little higher.

"I'm going to let you turn around, Jackson, but you need to promise me that you will look into my eyes, and only my eyes."

"Sam…" Jack muttered, a shiver running down his spine as her hand grazed his stomach, right below his belly button. "No…" He whispered.

"Yes… Jack…" She whispered slowly as she blew into his ear, the warm water just exciting him further. "Are you ready to turn around?"

"Yes…." He whispers.

"Eyes, Jackson. Only my eyes." She reminded as she put her hands on his hips again and slowly turned him around. As soon as their eyes met, Jackson felt like a bolt of electricity had hit him, his body trembled, his throat suddenly parched as he looked into her loving gaze.

"Sammy, this… this is seriously cruel." He whispered.

"What?" She smiled, her eyes smiling too. "I just want to show you some self control. You know, the last lesson before you go home."

"Oh, Sammy…" Jack said, his body shivering again.

She sees him shiver and her eyes become concerned. She puts her hands on his shoulders. "Are you cold?" She asks, their eyes still locked.

"Quite the opposite." He says, his body shivering again. "Why self control?" He asked as his head tilted as the water wash over his back.

"Well, you say that you always seem to get into fights and arguments. You always battle in the heat of the moment, well… that tells me that you have to have a little more self control." She says as she runs her fingers over his bare chest, her eyes still locked on his. "You know…choose your battles, take what you can get… you know." She smiled.

"Take what I can get, huh?" He asks, a wicked smile crossing his lips.

"You know what I mean." She giggled. With a swift moment she steps forward into his embrace and feels his body envelop hers, she can feel his body reacting to her touch and she smiles. She looks behind him and reaches out for the small washcloth that is sitting on the little towel bar, and she looks up into his eyes again. His blue eyes have darkened into a smoky blue as she feels the passion building up inside his body. While still looking in his eyes, she pours a little body wash on the washcloth and begins to rub it in slow circles across his back. His eyes close as he puts his head on her shoulder, groaning in pleasure as she rub the soap across his back.

"Oh, Sammy, you're so going to have to stop it… Sammy." He groans, his voice becoming deep and throaty. She rubs his back for several more seconds and then breaks the embrace. She catches his eyes starting to drift downward, and she smiles.

"Self control, Jack." She smiles.

He groans and gives her a half smile as he stares into her eyes again. She takes the washcloth and begins to make gentle circles on his chest, she giggled when he jumped as her finger crossed over his nipple, hard with excitement. She ran the cloth over his shoulders and back onto his chest again, moving lower and lower down his body as the small circles she made became smaller and smaller. When she made her way to his stomach, she could feel him tense up to her touch as his eyes became ever more lust filled and gray. Jack reached down and took her hand with the cloth, she resisted for only a second as he guided her hand around more sensitive portions of his anatomy, his eyes still locked with her own as she freed her hand from his and stepped forward again into his embrace. The cloth ran gently over his buttocks and hips as she kissed his chest gently. The warm water running over both of their bodies as Jack runs his fingers up and down her back, smiling when he feels her tremble under his touch.

She turns slightly to settle under one of his arms as she runs the cloth down his arm and to his hand. She gently places the cloth in his hand and smiles, their eyes never straying from one another's. "It's my turn." She says, her voice now filled with lust and longing. Jack swallows hard as he grips the cloth in his hand. He feels his body aching for her as he takes the cloth and begins by gently running it up her arm to her shoulder. He follows the trail that her collarbone has given him and to her other shoulder, where he steps forward and kisses her gently on the lips as she raises her arms and wraps them around his neck. He runs lazy circles around her back as he kisses her neck and settles his head in the crook of her neck for a moment as he takes in her sweet scent. He swings her around so that she is under the gentle spray of the water and she giggles at the sudden movement and she feels his body react to her giggle as he puts his hand on her chin and tilts her head back so that the water is running through her hair. He kisses her neck and gently moves downward as he runs the cloth around and over her breasts, his finger grazing her nipples, causing them to stand upright. She opens her eyes suddenly to find him staring at her with such a wild, undying passion, that it takes her breath away for a moment.

"I….I…" He struggles for the words that he wishes could describe his feelings.

"I love you too." She says softly as she steps forward into his embrace, hugging him with such a fierce grip, that she can feel his heartbeat against her skin, and a catch in his breath.

After several seconds, she steps back and takes the washcloth from him, setting it on the little rack, she helps him rinse off the soap, by gently running her fingers across his body, She giggles as she pours a little shampoo on her hand and reaches up to his head. He bows his head and lets her rub the shampoo into his thick blonde locks, massaging his scalp. He reaches up and moves her fingers around on his scalp as he keeps his eyes closed. He turns and tilts his head back, allowing the water to run through his hair, his fingers helping to loosen the shampoo. He opens his eyes and looks at Sam, whose gaze has gone elsewhere, and he chuckles. "I thought this was about self control?" Jack asked as he looked her up and down for a brief second and touched her chin, bringing her eyes up to his.

"This is your lesson, Jack. Not mine." She giggled. He put a little shampoo in his hand and stepped forward into her embrace and began to run the shampoo through her hair, she let a passionate moan escape her lips as his chest touched hers, and smiled when he turned her around to help her rinse the shampoo out of her long dark locks.

With all of the soap washed off, Sam reached around Jack and turned the water off, ending the warm stream that had wrapped around them like a cocoon. Sam then turned and pulled back the shower curtain, grabbing a towel. She tossed one to Jack and smiled as she watched him rub it through his hair for a moment before placing it around his waist. She wrapped her hair in a towel with her back to him and then grabbed another towel to wrap around her waist, before she could, she was pulled into his embrace and he wrapped his arms around her naked body. "That has got to be one of the hardest things that I have ever had to do." Jack whispered breathily in her ear.

She looks up at him and their eyes lock. "You're not standing where I am." She giggled as she stepped forward and wrapped her towel around herself and stepped quickly out of the shower. "I'll be right back" She said as she left the bathroom and went down to her bedroom.

Jack stepped out of the shower and began to get dressed again. He looked around for a moment and then walked towards the door. "Sammy?" He says. "Have you seen my…" He stops in his tracks, unable to complete his sentence as she comes into view. "Shirt." He completes it, but he sees her standing there in his blue button down shirt, all buttoned up save for the top two, revealing just enough skin to keep Jack aroused. "That's my lucky shirt." He says to her, his smile creeping up his face.

"I think it's your 'not getting lucky' shirt now." She giggled as she ran down the stairs quickly, laughing the whole way. "Hurry up, we're cutting your hair now!" She exclaimed as she got to the bottom of the steps.

Jack groans in frustration and stands at the top of the stairs for several minutes with a smile on his face as he descends the stairs.

_**I'm sorry that I hurt you  
It's something I must live with everyday  
And all the pain I put you through  
I wish that I could take it all away**_

Jackson walks downstairs and ventures into the kitchen, where Sam has already pulled a chair out from behind the breakfast bar and set up the bar with various size scissors, clippers and a towel.

"Wow, you're a regular barber, aren't you?" He chuckles as he walks closer to her. He bends down and kisses her lips. "Now, you know what you're doing, right?" He asks as he sits down on the chair.

She pauses for a second and picks up a pair of scissors. "Mohawk, right?" She asks seriously. Jack reaches back and grabs the pair of scissors, sending her into a fit of giggles. "I was kidding! I was kidding!" She exclaims as he lets go of the scissors. She carefully places the towel around his neck, tucking it around itself while planting a kiss on his cheek.

She combs his hair a little and prepares herself to make the first cut. "Are you ready?" She asks, her voice soft and full of love.

"Yeah, I'm ready." He says, holding his breath.

She makes the first cut and shows it to him. "See, that was quick and painless." Sam says as she drops a kiss on his cheek again.

"I guess it was." He smiles. Sam watches to make sure he's not looking as she carefully slips the lock of hair in the breast pocket of his shirt. She smiles as she begins to slowly cut his hair.

Halfway through, Sam brings her lips to his ear. "Why is it you wanted me to do this?" she asks, her chin resting on his shoulder.

"I trust you." He whispered back, tilting his head so that the can drop a kiss on her lips.

"Thank you." She says as she kisses him back and continues to cut his hair.

After his haircut, Jack looks into the mirror and smiles at his new self. "I love it, Sammy." He smiled as he watched her come up from behind him. She wraps her arms around his waist and looks at him.

"I think you look more handsome than ever before." She smiled.

"Thanks." He smiled. He stared at himself in the mirror, just as he had the day he had left. He felt different, he felt confident, grown up, he felt complete. He couldn't tell if it was just him, if it was the haircut, or if it had something to do with the beautiful woman whose arms were encircling his body. He smiled at her reflection as she peeked around his arm and smiled at him. "I think that my clothes are probably done." Jack said as he turned and kissed her cheek.

"Let's go get them, and then I'll show you my music room." Sam said with a smile as she stepped away and reached for his hand. He took it gently and they walked together to the laundry room.

_**I've found a reason for me  
To change who I used to be  
A reason to start over new  
And the reason is You**_

After Jack's clothes are securely in his suitcase and Jack has given in to Sam's demand to keep his shirt and puts on a different shirt. She took his hand and carefully led him to the French doors that lead into the music room. She opens the doors and walks inside, pulling him inside with her. She turns the light on and the large room is filled with light. Jack looks around in awe at the size of the room.

One side of the room has a large bookshelf filled with books on music, sheet music, and pictures of Sam when she was a little girl, looking so small next to such a large piano. Sam watched his eyes as they traveled from the bookshelf to the small bench in the room, to the array of trophies and certificates that hung on the walls. His attention turned to the baby grand piano that sit in the center of the room. He ran his finger along the fine painted wood, his eyes wide in awe. "This piano is absolutely beautiful." Jack whispered as he touched and admired the instrument.

"It was a sweet sixteen gift from my mother. It's my most prized possession." She smiled as she watched him walk around it and sit on the bench.

"My mother has an upright piano, when I was ten, she tried to get me to take lessons. I think it was her way of 'keeping me out of trouble'. I loved it, but I could never really get the hang of it." Jack said as he pushed down one of the keys, smiling at the crisp beautiful sound that resonated through the room.

Sam walked over and sat beside him, she gently ran her fingers across the keys and looked over at Jack. "I've been playing the piano since I could walk. I have been writing music for almost that long."

"Really?"

"Here." She says as she begins to play a slow lumbering tune, which started off very slow. It then quickly picked up and became wild through the middle and slowed down at the end, ending in a lumbering tune once again. She smiled and looked over at him. "I wrote that when I was eight. It was just a little something that I did to keep myself amused."

"You wrote that?"

"Yep. I call it 'Kitten's staircase adventure.'

"That's cute." He said as he touched her hand on the keys. She took his hand and leaned over for a kiss. "Thank you for sharing this with me." Jack said sincerely. "It means a lot to me."

"I'm not done." She says seriously. "Here, go sit over there on that bench." She says, pointing at the bench across the room. "I need the whole keyboard for what I'm going to play for you." Jack smiled and got up. He dropped a kiss in her hair as he walked over to the bench and sat down. "Now don't judge, it's a work in progress." She smiles.

"Go ahead." Jack whispered.

Sam slid down the bench to the middle. She carefully placed her fingers above the keys where she planned to start and she took a deep breath. She could see Jack watching her. "You're going to stop doing that." Sam said softly.

"Doing what?"

"Watching me, you're going to have to stop watching me."

"I'm not watching you."

"You're watching me… I can't play when you're watching me." She said softly.

"You want me to turn around?"

"Please." She gives him a sympathetic smile.

"How do you play in front of people, but say that you can't play in front of me."

"Jack."

"Turning around." Jack said as he turned around on the bench and faced the wall.

Sam smiled as she watched him turn around and she carefully placed her fingers above the keys to start. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes as she began to play a soft melody. The music floated through the room as if it were falling from her soul to her fingers. The melody drifted in and out of the softer notes and then lifted, becoming more urgent in the deeper notes.

Jack turned around on the bench, hoping that she wouldn't notice, and what he saw made his heart beat faster, and his body ache to touch her. This tiny figure sitting behind the piano in the oversized dress shirt was creating her own orchestra before his very eyes. She was becoming one with the music as it floated gracefully around the room in the most delicate of fashions. He stood up silently and walked over to her, standing behind her he watched as her fingers danced lightly across the keyboard, from one side to the other, he wanted so much to reach out and touch her, but he knew that if he did that, the heavenly music would stop. After several minutes of playing, she slowed down and quietly ended the song as perfectly as it had started. Jack was so caught up in the music, that he had forgotten to make his way back to the bench.

Her eyes opened after several seconds and she looked to the bench smiling. Her smile faded when she noticed the bench was empty. "That was beautiful." Jack said from behind her. He chuckled when he saw her jump when he startled her.

"Jack! You weren't supposed to watch!" She said, turning around with an angry look on her face.

He crouched down in front of her and looked her in the eyes, her anger faded as he smiled. "Yes, I watched, and you still played the most beautiful thing that I've ever heard." Jack said. "So I don't think that watching you had any effect on your performance." He said, kissing her hand.

"You liked it?"

"I loved it! You know what my favorite part was?"

"What?"

"You. You looked like an angel there, your eyes closed, your concentration so intense, your heart was in that song. What is it called?"

"It's untitled, and I do not close my eyes when I'm playing!"

"Yes you do. You let it take you over, your eyes were closed, come on, how do you explain me sneaking up on you?" He asked.

"I… I was…. You were in my blind spot!"

"There is nothing blind about those beautiful eyes." Jack replied. "There's no need to be embarrassed, I thought it was beautiful. I think that you're beautiful." Jack said, he sat up and pressed his lips to hers, smiling at the little sound she makes when she kisses, he pulled back and kissed her nose before standing back up. "You close your eyes when you kiss too." Jack smiled.

"You drive me crazy!" She said with a giggle.

"Good." He replied. "You do the same thing to me, but I'm sure that you already know that."

"I have something for you." Sam said as she stood up. She walked over to her bookcase and she flipped through a couple of books. Slipped inside one of the books, she pulls out a CD. She reaches out and hands it to Jack.

"What is this?"

"It's a CD with some of my songs recorded. It was just done in here, so its not the best quality, but I want you to have it."

"Does it have that last song you played on it? I love that song. I can still hear it in my head." Jack said as he accepted the gift.

"It's on there."

"It's a shame that it doesn't have a title. You need a really good title for it. A title that makes you smile when you hear it, or see it written down. That's what is important." He said as he pulled her into a hug.

They were silent for several minutes as he held her in his arms, the song that she had played still on his mind. "Thank you again for sharing." He said softly.

"Thank you for listening." She smiled into his chest as she squeezed him harder.

************************

9pm- SGH-

Charlotte sits in her car, putting it in park as she sits in the parking lot at the hospital. She reaches over to the seat next to her and she shuffles quickly through the papers on the seat next to her. She opens her car door and grabs the pictures and the papers and she climbs out of the car, closing the door behind her. She swings her bag over her shoulder and secures the papers in her hand so that they don't fall from her grip as she fumbles to lock the car.

She walks towards the door of the hospital, shifting the bag on her shoulder as she enters the building. She walks into the lobby and heads straight for the elevator. She stands there and pushes the button waiting for it to arrive, when she feels someone tapping on her shoulder.

"If I don't know you, I'm going to elbow you in the stomach, I'm just warning you." She grumbles as she continues to stare at the elevator.

"Well, I don't know you, but I could get to know you." A man's voice comes from behind her.

Charlotte smiles and turns around. "Are you stalking me? You always seem to be where I am." She says.

"Always in hospitals, yes…stalking… not quite. Would you like me to stalk you? Because I could. You know, if you wanted me to, stalk you… that is." Bill said with a laugh.

"It's ok, I think I can do without a stalker." She laughs. "What are you doing over here, I thought you had an interview over at Mercy West."

"I did, but I came over here to visit my mother. She hasn't had anything to eat all day, and she just got out of surgery, so I made her something for dinner." He smiles.

"Ahh, so you cook too." Charlotte giggled.

"That I do, what are you doing here?"

"I'm visiting friends, they asked me to bring some photos and other things, you know, so that they don't go batty in their hospital rooms." Charlotte replied.

"Well that's good, you're a good friend." Bill replied, nodding.

"I try." She smiled.

"I don't want to be forward or anything, but I was curious if you'd like to get together for lunch or something. Would you be up for that?" Bill asked.

Charlotte thought for a quick second and smiled. "I'd love that." She replied. "How about tomorrow, we can meet here, and we can take it from there."

"That sounds great! I'll be here at 12:30." Bill replies.

"Ok, I'll talk to you later then." Char said as the elevator doors opened and Charlotte stepped inside. She waved to him as the elevator doors closed.

Bill stood, watching the elevator doors closed with a silly grin on his face when he felt a poke from beside him. "Tell me you did NOT just do that." The woman beside him said.

"Mom?" Bill said as he turned and smiled at his mother.

"Damn straight!" Bailey replied. "You will NOT go out with that girl. Anyone but that girl."

"Just relax mom, she has a boyfriend."

"I don't want to hear it!" Bailey exclaimed. "Besides, she's too young for you." Bailey says softly as she grabs the container of food from her son and starts to walk away. "Thank you for dinner." She says as she opens the container to smell it and walks away as Bill watches her and chuckles to himself as he turns around and follows her.

Charlotte walked up to Katie's room and entered the room. Katie turned her attention from the television and smiled. "You know, this show is so stupid!" Katie said as she turned toward the televison. "I mean, the medical stuff on it is so unbelievable. I mean give me a break, what fourteen year old girl would be able to give birth to a baby in a school bathroom, dispose of it and clean up and walk out of the bathroom like nothing happened. Give me a break!" She exclaims with a disgusted snort.

"Well, it is only 'television'." Charlotte laughed.

"I know, it just makes me laugh." Katie said.

"Yet you can't seem to keep your eyes off of it." Charlotte laughed.

"Oh, come on… give me a break… the guy that plays the neurosurgeon, he's hot!"

"He looks like your dad." Charlotte said as she sat down in the chair next to the bed.

Katie threw here a glare and switched the television off. "You have SO ruined that show for me. Thanks." She laughs. She looks at her obviously tired friend and smiles. "Were you able to find the things I asked for?"

"Yep, I got the baby bag that should have been brought a week ago, I brought the papers, I just accepted an offer for a date on my way up here, I brought the photos, and a couple of bottles of…."

"What?"

"Water, I brought you a couple of bottles of water… what? Why are you looking at me like that?"

"You just said you accepted an offer for a date? Charlotte? What?" Katie asked.

"Did I say that?"

"YES!"

"Oh, yeah, I did." She said nonchalantly as she pulls a couple of bottles of water from her bag and sets them on the table.

"CHARLOTTE!" Katie exclaimed.

"Geez, Katie, don't bust a vein. It's not really a date, just lunch."

"With a guy!"

"No, I usually go on dates with women…. DUH!"

"You're cheating on my brother!"

"No, I'm not. I'm going to lunch with another human being. I'm allowed to do that, right?"

"I suppose. What do you think Jack will say?"

"Jack doesn't need to know anything."

"Hmm…"

"What?"

"Nothing…"

"And you won't say anything!" Charlotte exclaimed.

"But it's not a date?"

"No."

"You're sure?"

"Yes."

"Is he cute?"

"Ye…Katie!"

"Just asking."

"Just shut up and turn that show on again… I want to see the hot CT surgeon."

"Whatever." Katie says as she flips the tv back on.

"Whatever." Charlotte says back, putting her feet up on Katie's bed.

**************

10:00 PM-

Jack takes the CD and walks into the foyer. He gently places the CD in the front pocket of his suitcase as to keep it safe so that it wouldnt be damaged. He walks into the living room area, where Sam is sitting cross legged on the couch, a blanket over her lap. She is sitting with her brow furrowed in thought as she stared blankly at the silent television.

"Hey." Jack said, concern in his voice.

"Hey." She said silently.

"What's wrong?" He asked softly as he sat down beside her. She immediately shifted slightly away from him. This action didn't go unnoticed by Jack. Her eyes were wide and sad as she stared off away from him. "Sam?"

"What?" She said, her voice straining, as if she were about to cry.

"Tell me what's on your mind, tell me Samaroo."

"Don't call me that!" Sam snapped, throwing him a glare.

"Sam? Are you mad at me about something?"

"Yes! No…. yeah…. Yeah I am." She mumbled.

"What did I do?" Jack asked, he reached for her hand, but she pulled her hand back quickly. "What's your problem?" He said, with a little more attitude than he had intended.

"Don't you talk to me like that." She growled.

"Then tell me what the hell you're thinking, one minute you're sharing a beautiful moment with me, but I leave you alone for ten minutes and you've gone completely bipolar on me! What's wrong?" Jack asked.

"I've been going over this and over this in my mind trying to piece this together." Sam starts, her voice filled with contempt. "You…you always intended on going back to Seattle. You left home, you were sad and alone… you found me… you shared…" Sam swallowed hard as she tried to continue. "You shared things with me that I have never shared with anyone else, but you were still going to leave me. From the first day that you met me, to the day that you said that you loved me, to right this moment, you never had any intention of staying or taking me with you. You used me."

"Sam!" Jack said, sitting up, reaching for her.

"NO!" She growled, her eyes red with tears as she sneers at him with such contempt, that her icy stare freezes him in his spot. "I don't want to be the reason that you and Charlotte break up, and I won't be, because you're going back to her and you're going to tell her that nothing happened between you and me!" She said angrily. "This was a fling to you, because you love HER, not ME! It was a cheap thing where you took advantage of me and fucked me over so that you could feel so goddamned good about yourself and grown up and you could go back to her! It was all a lie!

"Sam! Stop! I'm not using you!" Jack said desperately to get her to understand.

"Shut up!" She exclaimed. "Did you have any intention of staying with me?" She asked as she stood up and stood up in front of him. Jack stood up and stared into her angry brown eyes as she poked him in the chest. "DID YOU HAVE ANY INT…."

"NO! I DIDN'T! ARE YOU FUCKING HAPPY? I HAD NO INTENTION ON STAYING WITH YOU!" Jack screamed, grabbing her hand, angry that she was screaming at him.

She wrenched her hand from him and pushed him. "LET ME SEE! That would be the fucking definition of USING SOMEONE! WOULDN'T IT? Why didn't you have any intention on being with me? Huh? You know what?…. I know why the hell not…It's because Charlotte is safe, you know…. Nothing wrong with being safe. Why the hell would you want to be with a goddamned social fuck up like me? HUH?" She said, pushing him again. "You have your own fucking life, I am not going to sit here and pine for you! You used me and you told me that you loved me, I told you that I loved you, and now you're going to leave me! I HATE YOU!"

"Stop being a tyrant!" Jack said, frustrated by her sudden outburst.

"TYRANT? TYRANT? DO YOU WANT TO SEE TYRANT? I WILL GIVE YOU TYRANT!!GET OUT! GET OUT NOW! I WILL NOT BE THAT GIRL! I WILL NOT BE THAT PATHETIC SAP THAT SITS HOME AT NIGHT WISHING THAT THE LOVE OF HER LIFE HADN'T CHOSEN SOMEONE ELSE! MY MOTHER WENT THROUGH THAT, AND I WILL NOT!" She screams, her face red with anger as she pushes him towards the door.

"You didn't put yourself in a very good situation, you know! Running around like a goddamned tramp, dressing in tight shorts and a fucking halter top! Give me a fucking break! You're the one that came on to me! You're the one that forced your way into MY car, onto MY bed! NOT the other way around! You probably fucked all the goddamned truck drivers that gave you rides till you got to me! Then you FUCKED ME!" Jack screamed in her face.

Sam reared back with all of her strength and slapped him across the face. His neck wrenched back and his face came back to stare into her eyes. He just stood there, his eyes deep blue with anger and hurt as she swung the door open and threw his suitcase out of it. "GET THE FUCK OUT AND DON'T LET ME EVER SEE YOUR GODDAMNED FACE AGAIN!" Sam screamed as she pushed him out the door, he tripped backwards nearly falling down the steps as he stared her in the eyes until she slammed the door in his face. He listened as she threw the deadbolt and quickly ran up the stairs.

Jack grabbed walked down the steps and grabbed his suitcase. He got into his car and adjusted the rear view mirror. Sitting in the back seat, buckled into the seatbelt where Sam had left him, was the little dog that he had bought for her. He reached into the back seat and yanked it by its ear, pulling it from its seat. He opened his door and walked up the steps and set it against the door, feeling the anger and frustration that was building up inside of him, he kicked the door hard, turned around, he went to the car, he jumped in and without caring whether he had his seatbelt on or not, he squealed his tires and got as far away from the townhouse as he could.

Sam ran up the stairs and took her cell phone out. She quickly deleted any trace of Jack on it, throwing it to the floor. She stood looking at herself in the mirror in her bedroom in Jack's lucky blue shirt. She stared at her red eyes and angry expression and she ripped the shirt from her body, littering the floor with the buttons. She threw the shirt to the floor and stomped on it and jumped onto her bed. Curling into a ball, she lay there naked and alone, crying her heart and soul out.

**********

Jack drove blindly east as he drove quickly and angrily towards the beach. He drove until he came to the parking area where they had stopped. The dim light of the street light lighting up the drying concrete sidewalk. He looked down at the words scrawled into the sidewalk and frowned. Next to where he had put her name, she had scrawled J A C K, with a heart between the two. He lifted his foot up above the sidewalk angrily, the words that she had said beating through his head like an uneven drum beat.

He slams his foot down onto the wet concrete and pulled it out quickly. He then took his shoe off and threw it hard against the lamppost, wet concrete sprinkling across the parking lot. He limped over to his shoe and picked it up, put it on and walked towards his car. He opened his trunk and threw his shoes inside. He then got back into his car, and quickly squealed out of the parking lot, not even thinking about looking back.


End file.
